Loxahatchee Groves council votes 3-2 to hire in‑house town attorney under short term contract

The Loxahatchee Groves Town Council voted 3‑2 on Aug. 5 to appoint Jeff Kurtz as the town's in‑house town attorney and move forward with an employment agreement expected to take effect Aug. 7.

Council members cited cost comparisons and service levels during a lengthy public discussion and member questioning that extended from earlier proposals for outside counsel. The motion to appoint Kurtz passed by a 3‑2 vote, and councilmembers asked staff to return a finalized contract that ties any annual cost‑of‑living increase to the staff COLA.

The council and staff spent more than an hour comparing models and numbers. Staff presented a proposed legal department budget of about $310,000 that the town manager said would cover salary and benefits for an in‑house attorney and a paralegal. Supporters of the in‑house model said that a full‑time attorney and paralegal would provide more day‑to‑day service than the roughly 1,100–1,500 billable hours the town gets under outside counsel, while opponents worried about adding long‑term personnel costs and supervisory risks.

The council also debated severance language. Council members pushed for limits after a discussion of the range of severance and contract remedies under Florida law; staff and the candidate said the town could face contractual damages if a contract omits any severance provision. The council ultimately instructed staff to remove explicit “no severance” language from the agreement and instead proceed with a time‑limited contract through Jan. 31, 2027, while leaving other termination provisions in place. The town's interim counsel noted that state law generally caps severance pay for charter officers at 20 weeks.

Kurtz discussed terms and said he would advocate during the budget process for a paralegal to support the position, but that the paralegal hire could be decided during the budget process. Kurtz also agreed to an employment term that would include the same COLA as other town employees each Oct. 1, if council approves a COLA.

Mayor Anita Kane, Vice Mayor March Herzog and one other council member voted in favor; two council members voted no, producing the 3‑2 result. The council asked that a final version of the employment agreement be returned for signature following the changes discussed at the meeting.

The council directed staff to produce the contract documents quickly; the town manager said staff would circulate the revised agreement the next day so the new attorney could begin on Aug. 7 if the paperwork is complete.

Why it matters: the move shifts the town from a primarily outside‑counsel model to a new in‑house legal model, changing how legal services will be budgeted and delivered and creating a personnel relationship that the council said must be reviewed during future budget cycles.