THE FUTURE STATE | Course Paper

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Executive Summary

The Knox County District Attorney General’s Office is responsible for serving the 6th

Judicial District by prosecuting criminal cases for the State of Tennessee. Prosecuting criminal

cases requires many processes to run superbly. In the last analysis there were five critical

processes needed to run smoothly for a successful prosecution and they were time management,

a well-informed staff, proper workload, integration of technical support, and accurate case

information. When these processes function properly the criminal case can move quickly and

accurately through the judicial system.

There were many deficiencies within these processes. The District Attorney’s office is

overburdened with cases and underfunded. The case loads are extremely high and there is poor

attorney engagement due to burnout. As a result, there is a heightened risk for potential errors,

lag times, and reduced accuracy in trying cases. Potential errors cause repeat offenses, innocent

people being found guilty, a higher number of guilty people being set free and committing

crimes. There is a substantial amount of lag time due to ineffective workload allocation,

inadequate preparation in obtaining evidence, victims, witnesses, and case information.

In 2018, there were 28,950 cases prosecuted by 6 attorneys in the 6th District Felony

Court. This means that roughly 20 cases per 6 attorneys per day were prosecuted. In 2019, the

number of cases increased to 30,789. However, the number of attorneys available to prosecute

the increasing case load remained the same. So, roughly 21 cases per attorney a day. Due to the

limited number of resources available (i.e., attorneys) to prosecute the overwhelming number of

cases can result in attorney burnout, delayed trials, misinformation (evidence) and the fallacious

conviction of an innocent person. The attorney is boggled with cases, defendants, victims, and

witnesses in the courtroom due to the high volume of cases. The attorney does not have enough

set aside to gather the evidence and case information to properly try the case. This can cause

delays in prosecution and a new court to be assigned.

The future state for the Knox County 6th District Attorney’s Office will remain the slow,

inaccurate, cost ineffective, and not easy system that has little tracking and accountability. As

stated previously the workload allocation for each is unbalanced and increasing the probability of

employee burnout. The volume of inaccurate, overlooked, and plain mishandled evidence

increases as well with unbalanced employee workload allocation.

I recommend the addition of 4 contracted attorneys at a salary of $55,080, 4 part-time

paralegals at a cost of $45,431, and the implementation of technical support. After implementing

corrections to the deficiencies of the organization found through the F.A.C.E. analysis. The

future cast for the organization is that it runs smoothly “fast” due to attorney’s work allocation

and being better prepared for cases. More staff means attorneys can accurately manage cases,

data, and evidence reducing the possibility of putting criminals back on the streets. The increase

of accuracy allows the organization to be cost effective because the county does not have to pay

for the repeated criminals. Implementing technological supportive software helps to improve

tracking and accountability.

May 22, 2021

THE FUTURE STATE

Critical Process Analysis Report of The Knox County District Attorney General’s Office