from an asst. DA.

This is a cross-post from civil, since this is where the traffic is:

Do your counties offer any perks or benefits that boost morale or offset the fact that you are underpaid?

What could the commisioners offer at little to no cost to retain staff and boost morale without pay increases?

I have been brainstorming and keep coming back to more time off. Does your county have a generous policy as to vacation or holidays that you would share?

Or any other ideas?

thanks.

My boss allows us to take appointments in probate and certain other civil cases that does not pose a danger of a conflict of interest. The judges are understanding and allow us to schedule our hearings around the criminal docket.

We also have a number of small towns around the area where the municipal prosecutors are part-time. I just recently interviewed for one in which I would have to go to night court a couple times a month which would pay $135 an hour. - Not a bad gig since it is the same type of thing most of us do in JP court.

Finally, we also have a juinor college that has a paralegal program. Some of our prosecutors teach a couple nights a week. They have to pull out the ol Barbri book every now and then to brush up on some forgotten law, but you never know when that may come in handy.

Hope this helps...

The 1st outfit I worked for had about 8 ADAs, and no appellate atty. Our boss would pay us $250 to write an appellate brief, which we volunteered for. We had to write it on our own time. I wrote a lot of briefs, and learned not only a lot of law, but how evidence presented in court came to look in the court record, as well as how to admit evidence and object to evidence. It was a great learning tool.

In a couple of the outfits I've worked for, the boss would sometimes declare, during dove season, it was time to stop fighting crime, and start shooting birds. That is always a big morale booster.

Also, in a couple of outfits, we were allowed to pick our own badge design from the badge catalogs, as well as our number. One co-worker chose as his badge number "MI6/007." Mine is a more modest "H.I. 5-0."

Never underestimate the power of a heartfelt thanks and a public declaration of a job well done.