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Two years ago, Pima County's top prosecutor and top public defenders persuaded the Board of Supervisors to increase their attorneys' salaries by 16 percent to stop a mass exodus.

They were somewhat successful, but an increase in the number of immigration and drug cases in federal court has them worried.

If the federal government wants to hire experienced attorneys with a desire to make more money, they say, to fill open positions all they need do is look to the Pima County Attorney's Office and the county's two indigent-defense offices.

Pima County Public Defender Bob Hirsh has already lost three attorneys to the federal public defender's office in recent weeks, and the U.S. Attorney's Office has 16 new federal prosecutor positions open.

"I'm sure I'll lose at least a few good people," said Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall.

The problem is money, say LaWall, Hirsh and Pima County Legal Defender Isabel Garcia.

Unlike federal prosecutors and federal defense attorneys, attorneys who work for Pima County are not guaranteed raises every year, nor are they rewarded for their years of service.

The county attorneys did receive the pay increase two years ago, and they received a cost-of-living increase and a 4.5 percent pay increase last year. But they didn't receive anything this year.

The new federal prosecutors could make as much as $80,000 annually — a figure that is mighty attractive when one considers a beginning Pima County prosecutor starts out at $59,000, LaWall said.

The federal job becomes even more attractive when one considers law-school loans, lower caseloads and the type of cases being handled, LaWall said.

"They are just prosecuting border crossers," LaWall said. "There's nothing complex, difficult or challenging about those cases."

In the coming months, Hirsh said he hopes to meet with LaWall and Garcia to devise some sort of incremental pay increase plan.

Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry, however, said he's not happy the federal government is luring attorneys away, but it happens sporadically. "Just because they have the money to hire people doesn't mean we have to have a knee-jerk reaction," he said.

The county isn't going to adjust salaries just because one agency is offering more lucrative packages at this one point, Huckelberry said.

The county takes a more global and long-term approach when adjusting salaries, he said.

The county often compares outside agencies' salaries with county salaries while also taking into consideration the future economic picture, Huckelberry added.

"We're just not in the position to financially react right now," he said.

Hirsh, however, said the general public ought to be as concerned about the issue as he is.

"When these lawyers leave, we've lost all the money we put into training them, and we've got to start over with the new attorneys," Hirsh said.

In addition, inexperience results in delays in the justice process, mistakes being made and more appeals, Hirsh and LaWall agreed.

Experienced prosecutors and defense attorneys will know whether a case should be taken to trial, dismissed or negotiated, and they'll know it far sooner than a new, inexperienced attorney, LaWall said.

"If you want the justice system to work fairly you've got to have trained advocates," Hirsh said.

"There's nothing worse than having an incompetent prosecutor, because then people will get off who shouldn't, or there will be people who are judged too harshly."

Two years ago, LaWall, Garcia and then-Pima County Public Defender Bob Hooker went to the Board of Supervisors to plead for 20 percent raises.

At that time, LaWall's office had experienced a 17 percent turnover rate for the year, Hooker's had a 22 percent turnover rate, and several of Garcia's employees were actively looking for new jobs.

So far this fiscal year, LaWall has a 7 percent turnover rate, and Hirsh has a 10 percent turnover rate. Two of Garcia's 15 lawyers recently retired.

With so many lawyers heading for more lucrative jobs in other government agencies or in private practice, the overall experience levels within their offices fall and caseloads increase, LaWall said.

Two years ago, 57 percent of LaWall's prosecutors had five years of experience or less.

Thanks to the lower turnover rate, that number has fallen to 39 percent, LaWall said.

Maintaining that experience level will be difficult, though, if her prediction is true and she loses prosecutors to the federal system.

Also troubling to her is the fact that three of her most experienced attorneys — Bill Dickinson, Rick Unklesbay and Kathleen Mayer — are planning to retire within the next year.

A fourth longtime attorney, Teresa Godoy, is a finalist for an open judge pro tem position in Pima County Superior Court.

"It's like a stab in my heart to see these people go," LaWall said. "They are the most talented and hardworking prosecutors."

She has attorneys ready to fill their shoes, but she needs other attorneys to fill those shoes, LaWall said.

Most attorneys who leave the office leave after the five-year mark, once they've gained enough experience to open their own practices or to land jobs elsewhere, LaWall said.

"I need to be able to retain those attorneys with five to 10 years experience and to do that, they need to know they are going to be compensated," LaWall said.

"One of the things we really need to do is have some sort of career ladder."

Hirsh agreed. Two years ago, 45 percent of the attorneys in the County Public Defender's Office had five years of experience or less. That number has increased to 58 percent, he said.

The three people who recently left his office to become federal public defenders received pay raises of between $7,000 and $9,000 annually, Hirsh said.

Two years ago, Garcia said, she lost one of her Spanish-speaking attorneys to the federal system.

He'd been making $59,000 annually with the county and jumped to $103,000 with the feds, Garcia said.

"The federal government has got deep pockets, and they don't have to balance their budgets like the county does," Garcia said.