Arapahoe County Commissioners approved additional funding for the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday to help with the influx of domestic violence cases that will come from Aurora Municipal Court starting July 1. 

The total amount includes about $3.8 million, a portion of which will help pay for 20 full time employees needed to handle the cases across various offices.

Aurora City Council passed a resolution in September to stop prosecuting domestic violence cases, instead handing them off to the 17th and 18th judicial districts for prosecution.

In January, 18th Judicial District officials expressed worries about having adequate resources to handle the influx of cases that would come from Aurora. In March, Aurora City Council moved forward with the shift, despite those concerns. 

On Tuesday, the Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners approved additional funding from ballot measure 1A, which passed in November, for the District Attorney’s Office after District Attorney Amy Padden submitted a supplemental budget proposal to the commission in April.

1A allows the county to “de-Bruce” under the Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights — that is, permit county officials to eliminate TABOR’s revenue limit and spend all the taxes it has collected. The phrase refers to the constitutional amendment’s author, Douglas Bruce.

Padden told The Denver Gazette Monday that the resources mean her office will be ready for the case shift come July 1. 

The 18th Judicial District currently handles about 859 domestic violence misdemeanor cases every year, according to council documents. The Aurora Municipal Court had 2,404 open domestic violence cases as of July of last year, including 1,304 active warrants.

Shifting those cases to county courts is estimated to add 200 cases each year to the 17th Judicial District and about 1,300 cases each year to the 18th Judicial District, doubling the district’s annual caseload.

With the supplemental budget’s passage on Tuesday, the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office will get $328,000 for 10 full-time FTE from the county’s general fund, according to county budget officials. 

In total, departments and offices, including community services and the sheriff’s office, will get $614,830 for 14 FTEs to handle the case shift. 

The office will phase in new full time employees, including two starting July 1.

Another $3 million will be moved to the capital expenditure fund for the buildout of a third courtroom in one of the courthouses for an additional judge in July of next year. 

Currently, the District Attorney’s Office has 186 full time staff members, including Padden. 

Arapahoe County Commissioner Carrie Warren-Gully thanked county voters in Tuesday’s meeting for passing ballot measure 1A.

“We had some very large expenses here as you see regarding our District Attorney’s Office and the transfer of domestic violence cases that we will be receiving from the City of Aurora,” Warren-Gully said. “Had it not been for the people of Arapahoe County coming together and voting to pass 1A, I don’t know what we would’ve done. We would’ve been making some very large cuts in other areas to take on those cases.”