Meridian’s Public Safety Levy promised to increase police wages, fund firefighter salaries, and allow for the creation of the city’s own prosecution office. Now that the levy has passed, preparations for the prosecution office can begin.
Creating its own office will take Meridian some time, according to Meridian City Attorney Bill Nary. He said he hopes to get the prosecution office up and running within the next year to 18 months.
“There’s a lot of lift that’s going to have to happen over the next year to year and a half to get this up and moving,” Nary said.
Working with court system
Nary said the first thing the city will have to do is meet with the court system and administrators to determine how Meridian’s unit will fit within the system. This will include details like how many courtrooms the city’s prosecutors will have to cover, figuring out if people will be cited at Meridian’s campus or at the courthouse, and coordinating digital programs between the city and the court’s IT departments…