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Prince George’s is the only county in the state with such a limit. A state bill passed this year raised the number of assistant state’s attorneys allowed in Prince George’s from 73 to 80, but several lawmakers, including Pena-Melnyk, want to either remove the cap entirely or transfer authority to the county when the legislative session begins in January.

Under state law, County Council members, county commissioners and county executives are given the power to determine the number of prosecutors in almost every other Maryland jurisdiction. In Montgomery County, for example, the County Council determines staffing.

‘‘I just think it’s one of the worst laws on the books for our county,” said Mel Franklin, president of the Greater Marlboro Democratic Club, who has been pushing the issue in the delegation since earlier this year. ‘‘It serves no purpose other than to undermine our ability to fight crime ... a number of people aren’t even aware of it.”

County State’s Attorney Glenn F. Ivey (D) has said the cap makes it difficult for his attorneys to keep up with arrests from the police department.

He said he hopes to lift the cap during next year’s General Assembly session.

‘‘It’s a huge challenge for us,” he said. ‘‘It’s really held us back in previous years and kept us from getting the number of prosecutors we need to handle the number of cases that we’ve got.”

Ivey was hamstrung on hiring in early 2006 when the General Assembly chose not to raise the cap, and money for new prosecutors was taken out of the county budget. Ivey would not say how many prosecutors he wants, but said he would like to add at least four attorneys to his six-prosecutor homicide unit.

Ivey said the staffing shortfall means some cases end up getting plea-bargained. Prosecutors are also unable to spend time screening cases, he said.

Other counties used to have similar caps, but over time they were repealed.

Del. Joseph F. Vallario Jr., a defense attorney and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is routinely blamed by lawmakers who say his powerful post allows him to uphold the cap, in turn benefiting defense attorneys. Vallario sponsored the successful bill last session to raise the cap, but the bill didn’t go through his committee, indicating his influence over such a measure could be limited.

Vallario (D-Dist. 27A) of Upper Marlboro could not be reached for comment.

Del. Barbara A. Frush (D-Dist. 21) of Beltsville, chairwoman of the county House delegation, said there is a good chance that removal of the cap would be successful if a bill is introduced.

Del. Aisha N. Braveboy said the state’s attorney’s office needs to be allowed to grow to keep up with the police department. The county police department has been in an aggressive hiring phase, and a recruit graduation last month bumped the number of sworn officers to more than 1,500.

‘‘We asked [the police] to make more and more arrests,” said Braveboy (D-Dist. 25) of Mitchellville. ‘‘We need prosecutors that are in a position to enforce the law. ... It’s frustrating when you’re arresting people and re-arresting people again, and there’s not enough prosecutors to go after everyone.”

Prince George’s County has 72 assistant state’s attorneys and will be authorized to hire up to 80 next month.

Montgomery County has nearly as many as Prince George’s, with 70 on staff, but Montgomery handles fewer cases.

According to the fiscal 2006 annual report from the Maryland Judiciary, which spans the state’s court system, there were 17,653 District Court criminal cases in Montgomery in fiscal 2006, compared with 21,355 in Prince George’s. The report said there were 5,255 Circuit Court criminal filings in Montgomery, compared with 7,550 in Prince George’s.

Ivey also questioned the salary cap, which limits an assistant state’s attorney’s annual salary to $107,000.

Del. Victor Ramirez (D-Dist. 47) of Cheverly wants to introduce a bill next session raising the cap on prosecutors and maybe even the cap on salaries. But he questioned the need to lift the cap entirely.

‘‘I think it shows some accountability to have a cap,” he said, adding that requiring the state’s attorney to justify additional staff benefits the office when it is seeking funding. ‘‘Just because you take the cap off, there’s no guarantee you’re going to get the funding for it.”

Ramirez, a defense attorney, chairs the law enforcement subcommittee for the Prince George’s delegation, where a bill to lift the cap is likely to be considered first.

Del. Gerron Levi (D-Dist. 23A) of Bowie said she would consider pursuing a change to the cap law in the next session, but agreed that the ability to increase staff size would boil down to the size of the county budget.

‘‘At the end of the day, it would be a budgetary question,” she said. ‘‘I am very interested in getting criminals off the street and ensuring they serve the time ... for the crimes they have committed.”