Cindy Besemer with the D.A.'s office says law students will often be in an actual courtroom more often than will some first-year attorneys, "From our perspective it's important so we can look at them for future employment.  It's also important because if students are doing a lot of the workup on cases or making the court appearances, we don't always have to have as many attorneys actually handling those cases."

If approved, the county's share of the costs would be $113,000 for 15 interns next year.  The money accounts for 30-to-50 percent of the pay that goes to the students, who are from McGeorge and UC Davis Schools of Law.  Those schools cover the remaining costs of the internship program.