DeKalb County prosecutors will soon be able step up their investigations of government wrongdoing.
The DeKalb Commission unanimously approved Tuesday funding to hire five attorneys, investigators and paralegals for District Attorney Robert James’ anti-corruption efforts.
James said the $186,000 appropriation, which covers salaries of these positions through the end of the year, will provide a boost to an office that has been stretched thin by prosecutions of suspended DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis, former schools Superintendent Crawford Lewis and others.
These positions will cost about $493,000 annually if the commission continues to fund them next year.
Commissioners had denied James' request for the money when they voted to approve the county's mid-year budget in July. Several commissioners questioned at the time whether James was doing enough with the resources he had.
Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton, who made the motion to release the funds, said Tuesday that James needs the capability to continue doing his job.
The district attorney’s Public Integrity and Organized Crime Division currently has four attorneys, three investigators and two paralegals. The division handles public corruption cases, officer-involved shootings and official misconduct.
Though the commission appropriated money for the district attorney, it didn't take any action to fund an outside inquiry being conducted by former Georgia Attorney General Mike Bowers and investigator Richard Hyde.
Several commissioners said they continue to believe their investigation should have been handled by James or external auditors, and funding for it will have to come from the budget of Interim DeKalb CEO Lee May, who hired them.
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