NC Republican crime bill would give Mecklenburg County more prosecutors
After the killing of Iryna Zarutska, a Republican bill could give the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s office more prosecutors.
The bill unveiled Sunday evening includes other changes, some of which a judge-turned-lawmaker characterized as “political” and not practical. The bill will likely undergo revisions in the General Assembly.
But Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather said he’s optimistic about at least one part of the bill’s current draft.
“We’re hopeful about the possibility of additional resources for the DA’s Office, as we have been through the course of this legislative session, but, in the meantime, it will be important to see what is actually enacted before commenting on legislation that still has many steps to take before becoming law,” Merriweather said in a message to The Charlotte Observer on Monday.
The 17-page bill would bump the number of state-funded prosecutors in Mecklenburg County from 61 to 71.
Merriweather and others working in the local criminal justice system have long lamented underfunding and under-resourcing from the General Assembly. The Observer found it was a systemic problem in a 2019 investigation.
Mecklenburg County had fewer prosecutors than almost any other urban county of its size nationally, the Observer found, and the state had spent less per resident on its courts than any other state-funded system.
The problem continues.
In February, Merriweather and others working in the courthouse asked county commissioners to continue pitching in money for courthouse positions. Mecklenburg County — which has the busiest courthouse in North Carolina — pays for some prosecutors despite courthouse funding being a state responsibility by law.
Ryan Oehrli covers criminal justice in the Charlotte region for The Charlotte Observer. His work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The Observer maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
This story was originally published September 23, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "NC Republican crime bill would give Mecklenburg County more prosecutors."