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Commissioners weigh raising Office of Public Defense pay to match prosecutor matrix; administrator to review
Summary
County HR reported March 12 that the Office of Public Defense manager and a district-court public defender position have been vacant and that raising pay to align with the county prosecutor matrix may broaden the applicant pool. Commissioners asked the administrator and HR to review options and report back.
FRANKLIN COUNTY, Wash.
County human-resources staff updated the Board of County Commissioners at the March 12 workshop about recruitment challenges in the Office of Public Defense (OPD) and proposed aligning two OPD attorney positions with recently approved pay increases in the prosecutor's (PA) office.
HR staff explained the background: the OPD manager role had been a contracted position from 2016 to 2024 and was budgeted as an in-house grade-23, step-7 role in the 2025 budget when the job was authorized. Two OPD attorney slots (one superior-court public defense counsel and one district-court public defense counsel) were converted from contractor roles into county positions in 2021—23; the district-court position had been classed at a lower grade historically and later aligned to a higher grade in 2023. HR reported both the OPD manager and the district-court PDC positions have been vacant for months and that recruitment returned few viable candidates at existing pay levels.
HR presented budget math showing the currently budgeted COLA-adjusted salary for the OPD manager (grade 23, step 7) at approximately $164,590 for 2025; the requested alignment to the PA matrix would increase that post-COLA figure to about $181,444 (a difference of roughly $21,661 on an annualized basis). For the district-court PDC, HR showed a COLA-adjusted budget figure near $123,600 and a requested alignment to a DPA-2 equivalent of about $136,611 (roughly a $12,000 annual difference). HR noted that vacancies so far this year had produced some temporary salary savings that could, if the board desired, be used to help absorb the higher pay in the short term while recruiting.
Several commissioners said they understand the need to stay competitive but asked the administrator and HR to analyze the management/case-load balance in the OPD manager job (currently a half-caseload in the job description) and to return with recommendations, including options that might preserve some managerial time in the role while keeping a caseload. Commissioners asked the administrator to consult with prior county leadership and prepare a recommended approach for the board.
Next steps: The county administrator agreed to research comparable county practices and to work with HR and outside counsel on appropriate job-comparable choices and a recommended path back to the board.
