Host: Samantha Gibson of MAC

Guest: Doug Lloyd, prosecuting attorney of Eaton County

Topic: County commissioners need to send a clear and consistent message to state lawmakers that continued inaction on prosecutor funding will not end well for Michigan.

That was the message from Eaton County Prosecutor Doug Lloyd in a new special episode of Podcast 83.

Lloyd, a former president of the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan and an announced candidate for the Republican nomination for state attorney general in 2026, discussed the critical need for increased prosecutor funding and the impact of the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission on county prosecutor offices with MAC’s Samantha Gibson during the episode.

“In my county, there's 34 departments. I'm one of those departments, and at the prosecutor level, if we aren't able to secure some separate grants, so some separate funding to actually increase the funding or help with the funding in our in our office, then we are stuck with whatever budget the county commissioners develop in their budget each year,” Lloyd explained.

Lloyd emphasized the unfunded mandates and the challenges in retaining and recruiting prosecutors and noted that the governor's $250 million budget allocation for indigent defense excluded prosecutors.

“If you want your community safe, then your local prosecutors have to be able to do their job,” Lloyd concluded. “Because if they can't, you're just going to see your local county go downhill. And I don't believe that's any citizen wants that, and I'm sure there's no county commissioner who would want that.”

See video versions of all Podcast 83 episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@michiganassociationofcount2606

Visit the Podcast 83 page at www.micounties.org