Huerfano Commissioners seek meeting with D.A. Solano

WALSENBURG —  In the wake of District Attorney Henry Solano’s open letter to Third Judicial District constituents published in the World Journal last week, the Huerfano County Commissioners indicated they would like a joint meeting with the DA in early April.

One highly likely topic for discussion will be the additional funding Solano’s office received from Huerfano County earlier this year, earmarked to hire an experienced felony prosecutor to handle local criminal cases.  Solano himself has been handling the prosecutions in Huerfano County since deputy district attorney Steve Sullivan quit earlier this year, citing under funding from the Huerfano Commissioners that he felt made his future employment in the district uncertain.  A number of felony cases, including murder cases in Huerfano County have been assigned to prosecutors from the state attorney general’s office.

In his letter last week Solano wrote, “The prospects for significant public safety improvement is uncertain in Huerfano County.  The DA office (sic) funding remains below minimum needs, with no clear identified source for increase to meet actual public safety needs. “

  Solano’s letter last week indicated he would have a hard time hiring another prosecutor without knowing if the additional funds for salary would be available in coming years.

In this week’s commission session, commissioner Max Vezzani pointed out the state constitutional mandate requiring a county to submit a balanced budget to the state each year does not necessarily guarantee any county department will be funded at the same level it was in any prior year.

In regular session Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018, the Huerfano County Commissioners approved Resolution 18-09 that added additional funds to the county’s contribution to the DA’s office  to hire a ‘seasoned’ felony prosecutor for the office in Huerfano County.

In that January 2018 action, the commissioners approved a (2018) fiscal year increase of $63,000 to supplement the county’s annual contribution to the Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office of $133,669.

The resolution passed by commissioners at the beginning of the year also said the commissioners would like to meet with the DA and Huerfano County Sheriff Bruce Newman at least once per quarter.  This was added to the resolution to enhance communication between law enforcement, prosecution, and the county commissioners.  The January 2018 resolution asked the communication meetings begin in April 2018.