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Warren County wins $750,000 ILS award to expand Article 10 defense; committee approves salary increase for specialist attorney
Summary
The committee accepted a $750,000 Indigent Legal Services grant over three years to fund specialized Article 10 family court representation, approved adding the award to the county budget, and voted to raise an assistant public defender's base salary to $117,024 using grant funds.
Warren County’s Criminal Justice, Public Safety and Emergency Services Committee on June 23 approved the county’s acceptance of a $750,000 grant from the state’s Indigent Legal Services (ILS) program to fund improvements in representation for Family Court Article 10 proceedings and authorized a salary increase for a nonunion assistant public defender position funded by the grant.
Public Defender Greg (first name used in meeting) told the committee the award — $750,000 over three years — was approved in December after an application drafted by First Assistant Public Defender Aaron Coleman. “For an individual county to access these funds, a grant application had to be submitted specifying what the county applicant intends to do with these funds,” he said.
The county intends to use the funding to create a public defender attorney position focused primarily on Article 10 proceedings (child protection cases involving allegations of abuse, neglect or abandonment), to fund a caseworker position devoted to early intervention and family support, and to support data-collection and related program costs. Greg said the grant is administered by a master contract between the county and the state dated March 27, 2025.
The committee approved a request to amend the 2025 county budget to add the ILS award. The committee then approved a separate request to increase the base salary of a currently vacant nonunion assistant public defender position (Assistant Public Defender 3). The salary increase would raise the position from $84,004.65 to $117,024 effective July 21, 2025, with grant funds covering the salary and associated legacy costs.
Greg explained the rationale for the higher salary: recruitment and retention of an attorney with family‑court and Article 10 experience, and the need for specialized training and focus in these complex, high‑stakes cases. He said the county will not create a new position but will augment an existing vacant position and change the job description; the plan also calls for hiring a law clerk (vacant Law Clerk 1) to handle data collection duties for the grant and other operations. “We intend to train that person to maintain data collection and reporting,” Greg said, adding that the office plans a modest data‑position increase of roughly $10,000–$12,000 in the 2026 budget to support reporting requirements.
Supervisors asked questions about spending timing (quarterly reimbursement claims), whether funds must be spent before reimbursement, and the grant’s multi‑year structure; Greg said quarterly claims and some rollover flexibility exist but that county staff will coordinate closely with ILS family representatives. Supervisors also pressed on parity concerns for attorneys countywide; Greg said county leadership has signaled this ILS-funded augmentation is targeted and that broad attorney raises are not planned in the near term.
The committee approved the budget amendment, the salary increase, and a small housekeeping fund transfer by voice vote. Committee members requested additional budget detail during the 2026 budget cycle to show how legacy costs, COLAs, and other contingencies will be handled.
