KINGSTON – Ulster County’s new district attorney, Emanuel Nneji, asked the oversight committee of the county legislature Wednesday to increase the pay of his assistant DAs to keep them from leaving for higher paying jobs, but the lawmakers held off on his request.
Nneji said while entry level assistant DAs start in his office at $78,000 a year, they can make $90,000 in Dutchess.
“Dutchess County, I think they have about double the size of prosecutors we have in Ulster County. They make more; they have more people doing the work, but at the same time the output is comparable. We are handling as many cases as they are, and we are having as much results as they are. So, something is wrong there,” he said.
But lawmakers said the problem has not occurred overnight and they tabled the request for further study, perhaps not until next year’s budget cycle.
