City Attorney's Office seeks new digital-evidence and e-discovery tools, plus outreach funding for domestic violence awareness

Bridal Shinn, deputy chief of staff to Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein, presented the City Attorney's Office's 2025 budget request and highlighted three expansion priorities that were not included in the administration's proposed budget.

Shinn said the office is requesting year-one funding for an Axon Justice digital evidence management system to make body-worn camera footage, photos and audio evidence easier for prosecutors to search, redact and share. He also requested funding for Everlaw e-discovery software to manage emails, text messages, photos and other electronic evidence during litigation. "Under the current no-cost version of the software that we're using, our staff spends a significant amount of time manually transcribing audio files and lacks the ability to research, redact, and easily share electronic evidence efficiently in response to discovery requests," he said.

Shinn also described a proposed public service announcement program aimed at increasing awareness of domestic-violence resources among residents who lack internet access; the communications would run on radio and television to reach those audiences. He added that the City Attorney's Office pursues federal, state and foundation grants to support direct services, and that some domestic-violence victim advocates are funded through VOCA and VAWA grants.

Council members asked about the property action team, owner-occupied initiatives and how grant funding augments domestic-violence work; Shinn described plans to expand apartment nuisance abatement and an owner-occupied home repairs initiative that will add Habitat for Humanity as a second provider. The office said it will continue pursuing grants and partnership funding.

Council did not take formal action during the hearing; staff offered to supply additional detail on contracts and grant-supported positions.