The Fulton County Commission has voted to approve millions of dollars for the district attorney’s office to handle a “massive” backlog of felony cases on a constantly-ticking deadline.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis warned County Commissioners on Wednesday that her plea for $5 million for 55 prosecutors, investigators, and support staff is not emotional—it’s practical. Immediate hires would cost $780,000 this year and $5 million yearly after that.

“It’s just math,” Willis said “I need help. I’m here begging you for help.”

Willis painted a picture of the sheer number of accused felony cases combined with a shortage of staff to handle them and the constantly-running 90-day deadline that says if these criminal cases are not brought forth to a grand jury for indictment within that time, the suspects are guaranteed a bond.

The DA says some of those people may actually deserve bond, but that those should be granted because a judge weighed all the factors in their cases and decided to grant bond—not because the DA’s office simply didn’t have the staff needed to handle the work sitting on them.

“I have 224 murder defendants that need to be indicted. That’s on top of the 584 that are already charged. At minimum, it takes a week to try these cases,” Willis said.

Fifty-one homicide cases have a 90-day deadline that expires September 28, but Willis pointed out that there are plenty of others facing deadlines in the days following those.

Willis also explained to commissioners that while murders are grabbing headlines, those are not the majority of cases at stake.

“We’re dealing with this crisis in every area of criminal law, but I wanted to point out homicides—which of course is the least amount of cases we have,” she said. “I have more rapes, more armed robberies, more aggravated assaults, more burglaries.”

Willis contends this “crisis” is a mix of COVID, historical mismanagement in the DA’s office, and increasing crime. Murders are up 48 percent in Fulton County this year, she said, and reminded commissioners pointedly that it’s all of their constituents who have fallen victim to crime. She shared details and/or showed photos of victims from Atlanta to Roswell and Johns Creek: “Sometimes they think everything happens in southwest Atlanta,” said Willis. “No, up in Alpharetta [too]. I have to get justice for north Fulton.”

The DA said that she needs the resources to keep the community safe.

“What happens if I don’t get what I need? The reality is, we don’t get to as many cases, we half-do our jobs, we skip steps, and we’re all in danger. I’m not supposed to say that, but that’s the truth,” said Willis.

The resolution passed 5-0.

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