County legal staff and supervisors discussed assigned-counsel costs, public defender staffing and how conflicts of interest affect the county’s ability to reduce outside counsel spending.

A county attorney’s office representative (staff member) said the assigned-counsel expense is large and is partly driven by higher hourly fees paid to outside lawyers. “It’s a big expense,” the speaker said. The representative said the county has calculated that keeping more work inside the county attorney/public defender offices could require the equivalent of roughly 2.5 additional full-time lawyers but that conflicts of interest would still force reliance on outside counsel in many cases.

The representative described how conflicts push costs higher: “If Mike’s got a conflict, his office is precluded. If I’ve got a conflict, my office is precluded. If Tony’s got a conflict, his office [is precluded]. It’s a hell of a wreck.” When the county asked whether higher in-house pay to retain attorneys would reduce assigned-counsel spending, the district attorney’s office (as relayed to the board) said conflicts would still require outside appointments in many matters.

The board approved a budget amendment tied to assigned-counsel family court costs during the agenda (moved by Dave, seconded by Charlie); during the meeting a speaker described the action as a “band aid” and warned the same line item could reappear in future budgets.

Why it matters: county officials said case-load limits, conflict rules and private-sector competition for lawyers limit the county’s ability to substitute in-house hires for outside counsel. The county also noted that some earlier contracting models (outsourcing some conflict or assigned counsel work) were fiscally effective but that statewide policy and funding patterns — including program expansion and grant-funded growth in other systems — have changed incentives and workloads.

Discussion vs. decision: the topic included both discussion and a formal budget amendment on assigned-counsel funding as part of the agenda. The amendment was moved and seconded in open session; meeting audio indicates the motion carried with multiple ayes and at least one no vote.