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County Attorney seeks dedicated grants counsel and new case‑management software; committee advances request
Summary
The Office of the County Attorney requested one full‑time attorney to support grants management and $36,000 for legal files case management software; the committee recommended the County Executive's FY26 budget for the office and heard the office describe a rapid rise in grant agreements.
The Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee recommended the County Executive’s FY26 operating budget for the Office of the County Attorney, which includes a staffing enhancement for grants management and a request to transition to new legal case‑management software.
County Attorney staff said the office has taken more grant agreements in‑house and now estimates it will handle roughly 500 grant agreements in the year, up from a few hundred. “We handle 2,000 contracts and amendments a year just in that division alone. So when you add the other 500 for grants management … it’s necessitated the ask for that additional FTE in my office,” the County Attorney said, explaining the proposal to add a dedicated lawyer in the finance and procurement division to handle grants, grant agreements and grant applications.
The office also requested $36,000 for Legal Files case‑management software as a phased transition away from the existing ProLaw system; staff said the ProLaw vendor transition and limitations (non‑cloud access requiring VPN) have hurt workflow mobility for lawyers and court appearances.
The budget packet shows FY26 increases totaling about $507,000 for compensation adjustments offset by about $504,000 in reductions for FY25 one‑time items (including a HIPAA audit). Committee members asked clarifying questions and recorded a recommendation to forward the County Attorney’s FY26 budget to full council, asking only for routine follow‑up documentation as needed.
County Attorney staff said the grants workload growth came when the county centralized grant distribution and that the new grants office requested dedicated legal support for the substantial increase in grant agreements and necessary legal review.
