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Board ratifies FY25–26 legal services contracts for county prosecutions and consulting
Summary
The Board ratified multiple legal service contracts for the new fiscal year: misdemeanor and felony prosecution contracts with Matt Clifford, a felony prosecution contract with Daniel Taylor, and a part‑time consulting/contract legal services agreement with Debbie Barnes.
The Graham County Board of Supervisors on July 21 ratified several legal-services contracts for FY2025–26 brought forward by the county attorney’s office.
County Attorney representative Bennett asked the board to ratify longstanding agreements. The board approved: (1) a misdemeanor prosecution contract with attorney Matt Clifford for justice-court prosecutions; (2) a separate hourly contract with Clifford for conflict and additional felony prosecutions subject to a cap; (3) a set-fee annual contract with Daniel Taylor covering a defined number of felony prosecutions divided into monthly increments; and (4) a part‑time consulting/legal-services agreement with Debbie Barnes, who retired from county service and will provide limited consulting and support work on an hourly basis.
Bennett said the Clifford misdemeanor contract has been in place for many years and that the felony/conflict contract is hourly with a cap. The board discussed fee structure briefly (Clifford’s second contract is hourly with a cap; Taylor’s agreement is a set annual fee covering expected work including trials and extended hearings), then approved each ratification by motion and voice vote.
Supervisors praised Barnes’s long service and said the contract provides flexible, experienced support to the county attorney’s office without retirement or employee benefit costs. The motions to ratify the contracts were approved by voice vote.
