Commissioners allocate $30,000 extra to state's attorney, fund carpet from fund balance; interns and contract attorney deferred for rework

Jamie Sterling, the State's Attorney, presented several essential cost-change requests (ECCs) including district-court carpet replacement, updated legal reference books, and proposed temporary contractual attorney and intern positions.

Sterling said the carpet request was a one-time need and asked whether it could be funded from the available fund balance. A majority of commissioners agreed to use fund balance for the carpet purchase. Sterling also requested making an annual allocation for updated legal reference books; she said the books and publications would be an ongoing, recurring expense.

Commissioners expressed concern about the proposed contractual-attorney line and the intern positions, asking staff to examine classification, legal issues around unpaid internships, and whether positions should be reclassified as part-time FTEs. Several commissioners said the $113,000 contractual-attorney request and the intern funding needed more vetting with human resources and procurement before consideration. "I think that needs a little bit more examination and needs to be represented in a different manner," one commissioner said of the proposed positions.

To bridge immediate modest needs, a motion was made and supported to add $30,000 to the State's Attorney budget to cover the smaller recurring requests (for example, shirts, publications, and other operating needs). The board also confirmed that the district-court carpet would be purchased from fund balance as a nonrecurring expense. Commissioners asked the State's Attorney's Office to work with HR to reclassify the intern positions, clarify hourly rates and hours, and return with revised language and cost estimates for a future work session.