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Walworth County committee approves option to fill child‑support supervisor as non‑attorney to speed hiring
Summary
The Walworth County Human Resources Committee authorized a resolution allowing the child‑support supervisor position in the corporation counsel office to be filled either by an attorney or a non‑attorney, preserving FTE counts and enabling immediate recruitment if attorney candidates are not found.
The Walworth County Human Resources Committee on Jan. 22 approved a resolution giving the corporation counsel office the option to fill the child‑support supervisor role as either an attorney or a non‑attorney, enabling the county to advertise the non‑attorney option immediately if attorney recruitment fails.
Committee Chair Susan Prusnick said the vote carried after a discussion of recruitment challenges and budget impacts. The resolution, filed in the packet at pages 3–6, does not increase the county’s total full‑time equivalent positions, the committee was told.
Kate (staff member) told the committee the county has run the supervisor position as an attorney post since 2019 but has struggled to recruit and retain attorneys since July 2023. She said the non‑attorney supervisor would be identical to the prior non‑attorney position and that keeping both options gives corporation counsel flexibility to hire the most feasible candidate.
Corporation Counsel Michael Cotter described the immediate staffing concern: he said the child‑support division will have three simultaneous vacancies starting the coming Monday and that advertising a non‑attorney option would speed hiring. “If I can’t fill the supervisor position with an attorney, I would like to advertise it as a non‑attorney position because I think I’ll have better luck filling it,” Cotter said during the meeting.
Committee members pressed Cotter on the tradeoffs. Cotter acknowledged having an attorney in the supervisor slot is “a great to have” because an attorney can represent the county in court, but he said another assistant corporation counsel 2 will continue to handle that work in practice. The memorandum and discussion noted that if filled as a non‑attorney the county would save $58,582 annually; for 2025 the papered savings including fringe benefits was $67,654.
A motion to approve the resolution passed by voice vote; the meeting record shows the motion carried. The committee did not increase the number of county FTEs and the corporation counsel office indicated it would immediately post the non‑attorney recruitment option if attorney recruitment did not produce qualified candidates.
The committee also discussed fiscal scrutiny going into upcoming budget cycles and asked that department heads remain mindful of budget impacts when requesting position changes.
