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Polk County attorney urges pay adjustments to retain staff, cites competition with state public defenders
Summary
The elected County Attorney told commissioners his office budget is almost entirely personnel and urged a step increase to improve recruitment and retention after years of losing experienced hires to public defender and prosecutor offices. He said county line attorneys max out around $135,000 while state
The elected Polk County Attorney presented his 2026 budget and warned commissioners that recruiting and retaining experienced attorneys requires action on pay. The attorney told the board that his office budget is predominantly personnel — "94, 95% personnel" — and said county offices increasingly lose mid-career lawyers to the state public defender's office because of a pay gap.
Pay contrast and proposal: The County Attorney described a salary gap between line attorneys in county offices and their peers in the state public defender system. He said public defender 10-step…
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