MANSFIELD — The Richland County Prosecutor’s Office received about 5 percent of the county’s $49.6 million general fund budget in 2026.
At about $2.5 million, it’s the second largest general fund office expense behind the sheriff’s office allocation of $20.9 million, which is around 42 percent of the overall pie.
But a request to add two additional assistant prosecutors and a new software service had 100 percent of the county commissioners’ attention during a nearly hour-long budget meeting on Tuesday.
Prosecutor Jodie Schumacher presented a $2.99 million funding request for 2027, drawing pushback from Commissioner Tony Vero over a lack of advance documentation and proposed spending increases.
The proposed increase would be a16.5 percent increase over what commissioners appropriated for the prosecutor’s office when they allocated $2.57 million.
A sizeable portion of the increase, around $199,000, would be around $164,000 for the two new assistant prosecutors, as well as pay increases for current staff.
(Below is a PDF of a presentation made Tuesday morning by Richland County Prosecutor Jodie Schumacher to the Richland County Board of Commissioners.)
Schumacher, joined by First Assistant Prosecutor Bryan Dove, centered their request on two major additions: adding two assistant prosecuting attorneys to handle felony caseloads and acquiring the Axon Justice digital evidence management software, estimated at $54,000 for 2027.
“(Axon Justice) is a digital evidence retention system, but it’s not just a retention system. It allows prosecutors to review cases’ digital evidence efficiently. It allows us to prep for trials more efficiently … synthesizing large-volume documents, such as downloads of phones, computers, etc., into the most relevant of items,” the prosecutor said.
The presentation met immediate resistance from Vero, who criticized Schumacher for failing to provide her slide deck and comparative spreadsheets from other counties prior to the meeting.
“One of the things we are consistent for is we ask before people who come before the board to give to us ahead of time so we can ask questions and review,” Vero said during the meeting. “We’ve been very consistent in that.”
Schumacher said she had been collecting comparative data from neighboring and peer counties up until the morning of the meeting to give commissioners the most up-to-date numbers.
“I was trying to get you the most up-to-date information,” Schumacher said.
The prosecutor offered to return to an additional budget meeting.
“Part of the discovery process—discovery goes all the way up and through the time of trial or decision by the court, and that would be not until December. I’ll be happy to provide whatever information you want and continue to ask any questions that you have,” Schumacher said.
Dove defended Schumacher’s ability to get information out sooner.
“It’s because she’s doing cases that in another place she wouldn’t have to do. She’s doing functions in terms of grand jury, in terms of litigating criminal cases, that in other counties, they wouldn’t have to do—so that she could focus on her executive functions and be able to get some of this information to you ahead of time,” he said.
In terms of her budget request, Schumacher pointed to statistics from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and the Supreme Court of Ohio.
She said Richland County had 1,406 felony convictions in 2025, significantly outpacing neighboring counties such as Ashland (358), Crawford (320), Huron (221), and Knox (154).
She also said Mansfield is designated as a member of the Northeast Ohio Violent Crimes Council and that Richland County handles felony conviction levels comparable to or higher than more populous counties such as Lucas and Mahoning.
“Assuming the indicted cases stay the same, two additional APAs will increase the cost of prosecution actually to $851 per case. If you go by cases submitted, it’s actually only $745 per case. It puts us there competing with, again, our most similar counties, Clark County and Fairfield County,” Schumacher said.
Vero, however, questioned whether peer counties included juvenile or appellate attorneys in their figures, which Schumacher had used to show how busy her staff attorneys are compared to counties of comparable size in terms of caseload and workload.
The prosecutor also explained the difference between caseload and workload.
“Those aren’t identical terms. Caseload is probably more identified or defined as just the numbers—number of cases. Workload is … the work that has to go into a ‘drug-in-a-pocket’ case versus the work that has to go into sexual assault, gang charges or homicide cases is much different,” Schumacher said.
She said 5 percent of her office’s incoming cases come directly from state correctional institutions — the Mansfield Correctional Institution and Richland Correctional Institution.
She said these cases often involve crimes of violence and offenses against corrections officers. She also emphasized her office’s intake numbers for the current year are already running ahead of where they were in 2025.
The debate grew sharper when Vero turned to bottom-line budget figures, arguing the prosecutor’s office had expanded rapidly over the past five years.
Pointing to general fund expenditures, Vero noted actual prosecutor’s office spending in 2023 was roughly $1.8 million. That would mean a $2.99 million request represents a 66 percent jump over five years.
“You’re comparing apples and oranges,” Schumacher responded. She said comparing actual expenditures from years with staffing gaps to full budget requests misrepresents office operations.
Dove defended the staffing request. He said the office has operated under immense pressure with attorneys working well beyond 40-hour weeks.
“The continued stress of high optempo with low resources is a strain on the people who are doing the operating,” Dove said. “We need more folks to lighten the load and to be able to do a better job.”
Commissioner Cliff Mears acknowledged the prosecutor’s growing caseload and case filing trends. He said the office presented a strong argument regarding criminal case volume.
Before adjourning into recess, Vero reiterated his insistence on receiving materials in advance is standard policy for the current board of commissioners.
“It’s not unfair for the budgetary authority to say, ‘Well, I have a couple questions about the data and you know we’re supposed to get it ahead of time,'” Vero said. “That’s all I’ve ever asked for.”
The meeting Tuesday was one of ongoing sessions commissioners are conducting with elected officials and department heads before finalizing the county’s 2027 general fund spending plan.
