PORTLAND (AP) – The Cumberland County Domestic Violence Unit is running at half-strength because of a statewide hiring freeze for prosecutors.

The program in the state’s busiest district attorney’s office will start 2004 with only one prosecutor working the cases. It had operated with two prosecutors, handling both misdemeanor and felony abuse cases, since it began in 1999.

The cutback follows the resignation of former assistant district attorney Ned Menoyo. His caseload will be distributed to other prosecutors throughout the office, which is already short one prosecutor.

Advocates for victims of domestic violence say the policy could severely dampen the program, which has nearly doubled the rate of convictions in domestic violence cases since it was created four years ago.

The prosecutors are trained to help victims overcome a reluctance to testify, or, in some cases, bring cases even when a victim will not testify.

“The unit has let these cases proceed much more quickly,” said Lois Galgay Reckitt, director of Family Crisis Services, Cumberland County’s domestic violence program.

“That’s important because it gives the perpetrator much less time to work on the victim,” and persuade them not to testify.

The hiring freeze is a result of spending adjustments made a year ago to address a statewide budget crisis. District attorneys and their assistants work in county-owned offices, but are state employees who are paid from the attorney general’s budget.

Three years ago the Legislature approved hiring additional prosecutors devoted to domestic violence cases.

But Cumberland County District Attorney Stephanie Anderson is blocked from hiring a replacement for Menoyo by a state policy that leaves four prosecutor positions frozen statewide.

AP-ES-12-30-03 0658EST