SHOSHONE COUNTY, Idaho — If you thought being a county prosecutor was a "nine to five" job, think again.
Despite having seven years of experience as Shoshone County's head attorney, prosecutor Keisha Oxendine says her work days don't appear to be getting any shorter.
"It's not uncommon for me to spend anywhere between 12 and 14 hours a day at work," Oxendine told KREM on Monday.
Since being elected county prosecutor in 2012, Oxendine says her office has seen an increase in case filings each year. That's resulted in not only long days at the county courthouse, but an endless effort among her staff to adequately balance and schedule cases.
In 2019, 2,129 criminal cases were filed in Shoshone County, marking a more than 11% increase from the year before, Oxendine's office said.
"You are constantly having to prioritize the cases that are coming across your desk," Oxendine said of the increased workload.
Additionally, her office is also tasked with ensuring that the rights of defendants, such as the right to a speedy trial, are also protected.
"A lot of that is making sure that you go through that priority [list] every day, multiple times a day," said of her office's work to balance caseloads.
Oxendine added that there have been additional challenges related to attracting attorneys to Shoshone County due to an already tight job market and relatively lower pay compared to other county prosecutors offices.
While Shoshone County isn't alone in seeing more criminal cases being filed, Oxendine noted, something unique about Shoshone County sticks out.
"We are not seeing the increase in population base," she said. "So, we're seeing an increase in criminal filings, but not an increase in people in our community."
At the same time, Oxendine said that the Silver Valley has witnessed a decrease in available community resources to address offenders experiencing mental health issues and substance abuse problems.
"Primarily, we're not having the ability to rehabilitate people within the community," she said.
Oxendine added that the amount of treatment providers in Shoshone County is limited and funding can be hard to come by.
"What we're seeing is we're starting to see the same people who are coming back through the system because their rehabilitative needs just aren't being addressed," said Oxendine.
Additionally, Oxendine said that her office only has two full time prosecutors who handle the hundreds of cases presented to the court each year.
"We have more cases, but we don't have the increased staff to address those cases," she said.
While the workloads may create headaches, Oxendine stressed that she had her staff constantly strive to balance the interests of the public and public safety with the law.