The District Attorney's Office DIMS program was the latest to receive scrutiny and criticism by some on the El Paso Commissioners Court, though the County Commissioners ultimately decided to keep funding the program on a 3-1 vote.

In the DIMS program, instead of a magistrate judge determining whether there is enough probable cause for a case to go forward, a prosecutor from the District Attorney's Office does the job.

El Paso County has used the DIMS program for more than 10 years.

"It collapses the amount of time it takes a prosecutor to evaluate the case," said El Paso District Attorney Jaime Esparza.

Esparza said instead of taking up to two weeks to determine if the DA's office would go forward on a case, it takes only a couple of hours. But it costs $450,000 a year from the county budget.

"I could not support DIMS to the tune of $450,000 when the District Attorney has $790,000 in his discretionary accounts," said County Judge Anthony Cobos, who believed Esparza should help pay for part of DIMS with his own department's funds.

Cobos was also concerned about how much the DA's office paid prosecutors to work in the DIMS program.

"When an attorney is getting paid $365 for a shift, I think taxpayers look at that and say, 'Wow, where can I sign up for that?'" Cobos told KFOX.

But Esparza said the job requires experienced prosecutors who have to work overnights and weekends.

"They're making very important decisions as they evaluate and screen the case. They do it at an odd hour, not between 8 and 5, so we create an incentive as well to do that work," he said.

In a 3-to-1 vote by County Commissioners, the funding will still come from the county budget and not from the DA's discretionary funds.

"This program clearly saves money for the county, and it does exactly what the law requires us to do," said Esparza.

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