In response to budget cuts mandated by Gov. Mark R. Warner, Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore's office announced 51 layoffs last Friday.
The cutbacks amount to a 20 percent reduction in the workforce and include the elimination of 10 lawyers and 41 support staff positions. The attorney general's office now employs 229 people, a reduction of 56 positions from the beginning of the year.
Kilgore spokesman Randy Davis said these cuts will save $2.48 million annually, a 15 percent budget reduction. Warner has estimated that to meet the new budget, 91 jobs within the attorney general's office would need to be cut, but various cost-saving measures have allowed the office to retain more personnel.
"This is all that is necessary to meet the 15 percent cuts," Davis said.
Kilgore established travel restrictions over the summer in order to meet a 7 percent budget reduction that he voluntarily instituted at the beginning of the year, Davis said.
Kilgore also reorganized his office's payroll, using federal grants to pay the salaries of some employees. Five positions left vacant from recent retirements are left unfilled.
Although the attorney general employs an "at will" workforce, meaning workers are not entitled to state severance pay, the laid-off employees will receive five weeks of salary from the attorney general's office in addition to state payment for unused leave time.
Politics Prof. Larry J. Sabato said the long-term effect of these cuts remains to be seen.
"Clearly, this is going to affect what they do," Sabato said. "They won't be able to offer some of the services that they once performed."
Kilgore spokesman Tim Murtaugh echoed Sabato's statement, but emphasized that the attorney general's office will "continue to get it done" despite the layoffs.
The attorney general's office provides legal advice and representation to Warner and defends the constitutionality of Virginia laws when they are challenged in court.
"We are bound by law to provide services to government institutions such as state universities," Murtaugh said. "Cuts will come in areas not directly related to our constitutional and legal duties."
Although the attorney general's office received the maximum 15 percent reduction that state law authorized Warner to implement, Davis said that the cuts were done "in as equitable and fair of a manner as possible," and said the decision was not politically motivated.
"The attorney general's office will do everything it can to help the state balance its budget," Davis added.
The layoffs come as agencies across the state are cutting jobs and services in an effort to meet budget cuts. Overall, $858 million must be trimmed from this year's budget, which amounts to an estimated 1,837 layoffs.
Many of these reductions are in addition to previous cuts that have left positions across the state unfilled. More cuts could follow once the budget goes to the General Assembly in January.
It is unclear how long the current budget conditions will last, Sabato said.
"When the money starts to flow again and the economy gets better, the question always becomes, do you restore the cuts or does the money go elsewhere?" he said.
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