Dispute could have put City State’s Attorney Office funding at risk

BALTIMORE, MD (WBFF) — As Baltimore City leaders discuss the latest budget, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates is prepared to ask for funding to continue violent crime reduction efforts.

However, in the midst of the budget season, Bates says he recently learned that decisions at the state level could have stripped funding from his office.

Appearing on a town hall with Baltimore Sun Co-owner Armstrong Williams, Bates acknowledged that about $500,000 could have been taken from the City State’s Attorney’s budget unless they complied a statewide juvenile crime report, based on data Bates said his office does not have.

“It was baffling to myself and my team when we found out about this three weeks ago,” Bates said.

“But it appears that there was a state senator from Baltimore City that, because of my strong stance against the juvenile law, wanted to make sure that I was going to receive a strong message, that I need to get along and do what they want me to. That will never happen. I will always fight for the people in the community,” Bates added during his discussion with Williams.

Bates said that funding is critical for violent crime prosecutors.

“That $500,000 is part of a $1.7 million grant that doesn’t have anything to do with juvenile, but has everything to do with the funding of my violent crime prosecutors. $500,000. That means we can’t have four homicide prosecutors, which means we’ve lost 80 cases, which means that’s 80 murderers running around the streets of Baltimore City,” Bates added.

Bates said he was able to talk with Senate President Bill Ferguson and Governor Wes Moore’s office, and was assured they would work to make sure the funding was not taken away.

“And thank goodness, because what they didn’t realize was that there’s no way that I have this data, however DJS has it. We will work closely with them to make sure we give them this report,” Bates said.

“When you make a prosecutor’s job more difficult, and when you do some of these juvenile justice reforms, it’s only going to put more stress on Ivan Bates’s office. Also, you’re putting more stress on the Department of Juvenile Services, that is already not run very well,” said Political expert John Dedie.

“Political gamesmanship only harms the citizens of Baltimore, it harms the state’s attorney’s office, and it makes no sense whatsoever to have done something like this,” he added.