FARMINGTON — Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings hunched over a calculator in his office, adding up his office case load.

"We're projecting 4,300 adult court cases by the end of 2007," he said as he punched buttons, dividing up the cases by the 11 attorneys in his office.

By Rawlings' estimation, the Davis County Attorney's Office handled an average of 390 cases per attorney. That doesn't include the juvenile court cases, which his office also handles.

"I'm handling a lot of cases myself," he said Thursday. "I handle it just like they do."

Unlike Salt Lake District Attorney Lohra Miller, who complained of 215 felony cases per attorney per year, Rawlings said his staff doesn't feel overworked.

"While I understand they're buried and that they're working hard, they're not whining and complaining about it," he said. "We haven't had anyone leave this year."

That doesn't necessarily mean that Rawlings is rejecting more prosecutors. In 2006, the county attorney's office handled an unprecedented caseload of 10 murder cases, which threatened to strain resources and budgets. Rawlings hasn't asked for any additional attorneys, focusing part of his nearly $3 million budget instead on salary increases. Davis County Commissioners granted his request for an additional investigator in 2008.

"I do not believe we're in a position where we're so understaffed that public safety is being compromised," he said.

Rawlings' numbers differ from the filings calculated by the Utah Administrative Office of the Courts. In his calculations, Rawlings included adult court cases that his office either screened and declined to file, reduced to misdemeanor charges or filed as felonies, because an attorney had to review them.

Rawlings refused to comment on Miller's claims about crime increases and staffing shortages.

"In fairness to Lohra in Salt Lake County, her perception may really be reality," he said. "Anything I say or do here may not be a fair comparison."

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com