POULSBO — The prosecution rate at Poulsbo Municipal Court from May through August was up 80 percent over the last year.

In that four-month time period, the court filed 135 criminal cases this year, up from last year’s 75, according to court administrator Linda Baker.

Municipal Court handles cases involving misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors, DUIs and some domestic violence cases. Felonies are handled by Kitsap County district and superior courts.

“Do we know exactly why (the increase)? No, not exactly,” said Kylie Purves, Poulsbo city prosecutor.

Purves’ position with the city was created this year, following the termination of the agreement with Kitsap County for prosecution services in order to have in-house services and save money. Purves started in her position as city prosecutor May 1.

Purves, a former defense attorney, said part of the reason for the increase could be because county prosecutors “would leverage charges against each other,” meaning they would drop lesser charges like misdemeanors in exchange for a confession of guilt for more serious charges, though Purves said that is just a theory.

“It’s hard for me to speculate what’s going on,” she said.

The majority of her cases, she said, are probably shoplifting.

“A lot of cases are from Walmart,” Purves said. “They have really advanced loss prevention, and dedicated employees for loss prevention, so we get a lot of referrals from them.”

In those four months, Purves said none of the cases have actually gone to trial.

“The majority of them resolve with a conviction or a diversion agreement,” she said. “Some of them are still … out on a bench warrant. I think very few cases actually go to trial in any system.”

Will this trend continue? Purves said probably not.

“It seems like things might be slowing down a little bit, but I can’t say for sure,” she said. “Some people think that when it’s hot, people get surly.

“I would say right now, I think it’s on trend to actually start declining a little bit.”

She said there’s no quota of the number of cases she needs to file on a monthly basis or anything in that regard, and her purpose is “just to process criminals and get justice and help victims.”

Also, Purves said her office has plans to “do some education.”

“We have some stuff planned in the fall, like working with the school district to educate the kids about the consequences of behavior, stuff like that,” Purves said.