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County attorney urges pay increases for legal staff, sets hiring timeline
Summary
County Attorney Carl Thompson presented salary comparables and asked the Board to raise pay for his office's legal staff and county attorney line to attract candidates; he proposed a timeline to advertise and fill the county attorney post and requested the board add a short-term employment authorization to the agenda.
Page County Attorney Carl Thompson presented a budget request and a comparability review to the Board of Supervisors, asking for higher pay for his office staff and the county attorney position to improve recruitment and reduce turnover.
Thompson said the office is understaffed relative to workload and that pay for his two long-serving support staff is lower than comparable county positions. He asked the board for a 10% raise for Kim (head of office support) and a 15% raise for Stephanie (legal secretary), which Thompson said would bring those positions closer to staff pay in other county offices.
Thompson also reviewed salary comparables for county attorneys in neighboring counties and larger rural counties, reporting examples he had gathered: "Mills is $117,000 part time; Cass is $135,000 full time; we are budgeted at $107,000," he said, noting differences in full- or part-time status and workload. He argued that county attorney pay has fallen behind population and caseload rank and that higher pay will be required to recruit qualified candidates.
He proposed a hiring timeline and temporary coverage plan: advertise the county attorney job, close applications mid-March (March 14), interview and decide within weeks, and include a 45-day employment authorization for an interim if needed. Thompson offered to serve as interim county attorney while the board finalizes compensation and recruitment details, but said he wanted budget clarity before committing.
Board members and staff discussed assistant-county-attorney pay constraints: Iowa Code and customary practice set assistant compensation relative to the county attorney pay, so raising the county attorney salary affects the allowable ceiling for any assistant. Thompson highlighted the office’s current staffing model and said losing both the attorney and a senior secretary simultaneously would create serious operational disruption.
Next steps: Board asked staff to place the 45-day employment item on the next meeting's agenda and to continue budget work; supervisors also requested Thompson’s packet and comparables be posted and considered in the upcoming budget vote.
