Crawford County appoints two attorneys as guardians ad litem for juvenile cases

Crawford County commissioners on May 27 approved appointing two attorneys, Matthew Bonner and Addison Tucker, to serve as guardians ad litem for juvenile court cases, with contracts set at $4,500 each and a planned start date of June 1.

County staff member Lisa told the commission the county’s current guardian ad litem is retiring at the end of the month and the court has been relying heavily on outside counsel billed at a state rate of $150 per hour. “We were at over a $100,000 on outside money,” Lisa said, explaining the county expects the new contracts to reduce those outside legal costs over time.

The commission voted to appoint Bonner and Tucker; a contract will be prepared and brought to a future meeting for processing. Lisa said the payments will come from the district court budget. The appointment was described as intended to reduce reliance on higher-cost outside counsel, address conflicts, and stabilize coverage for juvenile hearings.

Procedural details: a motion to appoint the two attorneys was made, seconded and the vote recorded as “Aye.” The contract documents will be finalized and run through a subsequent meeting for formal execution.

Why it matters: juvenile guardians ad litem represent the interests of children in court; the county framed the decision as a cost-control measure to avoid frequent use of higher-priced outside attorneys and to ensure regular coverage for juvenile dockets.

What was not decided: the commissioners did not finalize or sign the full contracts at the meeting; Lisa said the contracts would be presented at a future meeting for completion.