The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office in Detroit laid off 22 lawyers last week, The Detroit Free Press reports.
Now there aren't enough lawyers to prosecute criminal traffic and misdemeanor cases, the paper reports.
District Court Judge Ronald Giles told the Detroit Free Press that he dismissed six misdemeanor cases, including two for drunk driving and one for assault, on Tuesday morning because no attorney showed up from the prosecutor's office.
Meanwhile, traffic violators are happy that they won't have to pay the city any money.
Twenty-two-year-old Chase Majors told the Free Press he "got away with a lot" when the government's lawyer didn't show up. He had planned to plead guilty but saved $1,700 in fines and court costs when his two traffic tickets were dismissed.
Wayen County Prosecutor Kym Worthy is frustrated because the cash-strapped city has slashed her budget to $25.6 million from the $34.1 million she had been promised, according to the Detroit News.
“My prosecutors … are overworked, underpaid, have too much to do, volunteer on their own time because we were all concerned about this issue,” Worthy told WWJ Newsradio last week.
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