HUNTINGTON -- The loss of federal grant funding means Cabell County will lose an assistant prosecutor dedicated to fighting domestic violence.
It's just one of five positions in the office subsidized with federal grant dollars. The other grants fund three victims' advocates and a juvenile justice prosecutor. Each position could be at risk as budget cuts pass in Washington.
Prosecutor Chris Chiles has not been notified as to funding amounts for the other grants. Therefore he withheld comment about their stability, but he said no money for the domestic violence position means it will be terminated June 30. He said he would prefer to keep the position.
"There have apparently been significant funding cuts across the board, and ours unfortunately was one of them," he said. "I wish it could be kept also, but the fiscal reality apparently is otherwise."
The Branches Domestic Violence Shelter is among those urging the Prosecutor's Office to explore another way to fund the position. Local police organizations also plan to discuss the issue at future meetings.
"That directly impacts a huge segment of the people we serve," said Huntington Police Sgt. Chuck Kingery, who also is president of Fraternal Order of Police Gold Star Lodge 65.
Hundreds of domestic violence incidents occur every year in the county. In 2007, for example, 1,309 domestic violence petitions, which are civil cases, were filed in Cabell County Magistrates Court.
The domestic violence position is funded through the federal Violence Against Women Act. It provided approximately $57,300 to three groups in Cabell County during the 2007-08 fiscal year. The prosecutor's position received $25,500. The remaining funds hired advocates for Branches and the Contact Rape Crisis Center. The grant continues to fund those advocates through 2008-09.
The prosecutor position had been funded for at least five years. It is currently occupied by Assistant Prosecutor Sherry Eling at a salary of $46,170. She said letting the position go would be a mistake.
"If it is a matter of a problem with me that I'm not aware of, then somebody please get rid of me and save the position because it is too important," she said.
Branches Executive Director Rhonda Farley said domestic violence is prevalent in Cabell County. Her agency provides services such as a 24-hour crisis line, an emergency shelter and case management and counseling. She said keeping the position is an important part of battling the problem.
"It kind of shows that domestics are taken seriously," she said. "That it is a crime, and it is worth the dedication of one prosecutor to deal with this crime. That violence in the home is not something we're going to tolerate within our community."
Eling and Farley both talked about a cycle of violence that convinces women to return to a situation. They said that cycle is curbed through dedicated prosecution because the victim believes someone is taking the case seriously.
"They would be more likely, I think, to follow through with the prosecution," Farley said. "They're not going to put themselves in more danger by testifying against someone, if they think that person is going to be free the next day to retaliate against them."
Cabell County Sheriff's Lt. Mike Clark is president of the Deputy Sheriff's Association for Cabell County. It will take up the issue at its June 12 meeting.
"I hate to see it vacant," he said. "We need someone in that position. It helps the victims, it helps the officers and everybody involved in domestic violence."
To keep the domestic violence position, Chiles must find new money, request more funding from the County Commission or move money already placed in his budget.
Chiles said he has no plans to approach the Cabell County Commission. He understood the commission said keeping such positions were dependent upon keeping the grants.
Chiles' office will lose its highest-paid assistant prosecutor because that assistant, Jane Hustead, has won election to become circuit judge. Her salary is $73,600. Chiles would not comment when asked whether a portion of that money could be re-allocated to help supplement the salary of an assistant dedicated to domestic violence cases.
"I'm not going to talk about what I'm going to do with my budget," he said.
Farley had not talked to Chiles concerning the position as of Wednesday morning. She anticipates it will be discussed when representatives from local law enforcement, victims' services and prosecutors gather later this year.
According to Farley, Cabell County is the only county in her five-county service area that has a prosecutor dedicated to domestic violence cases. She was not aware of problems in other counties directly linked to the absence of a dedicated assistant prosecutor, but she said her other counties have smaller populations and smaller criminal caseloads.
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