Clare County commissioners approve press release detailing county costs in prosecutor lawsuit

The Clare County Board of Commissioners voted to issue an informational press release reporting the county's costs tied to the lawsuit between Clare County and the former prosecutor.

The board's motion, made during the regular meeting, directed staff to prepare a release listing the expenses incurred by the county in that case. A separate amendment that would have expanded the release to include all county lawsuits over the last 20 years failed in a roll-call vote.

During public comment, a resident asked whether the release would break costs down into phases such as pre-arbitration and post-arbitration; commissioners said staff would clarify details as they prepared the release. Another public commenter, Randy (resident), thanked the board for approving the information release and said, "the public has a right to know how their tax dollars are being used."

County staff told commissioners they would prepare the release to state the costs and the hours expended by county staff collecting the information. Commissioners discussed the release as a transparency measure requested by community members who raised questions at township meetings.

The board did not approve the broader amendment to include two decades of lawsuits; that narrower amendment to expand the scope was put to a separate roll-call and failed. The approved motion applies only to the prosecutor-versus-commissioners matter.