Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Corporation Counsel topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Finance committee debates in-house vs. contracted corporation counsel for 2026 budget
Summary
Committee members reviewed costs, duties and conflicts tied to moving county corporation counsel in-house or increasing contracted hours. Staff were asked to clarify current hours, obtain bidding options and return with costed alternatives for the full county board.
The Richland County Executive Finance Standing Committee on June 23 discussed whether to move the county’s corporation counsel from contracted services to an in-house position for the 2026 budget year, or to rebid and increase contracted hours.
Administrator and staff provided a cost comparison: the county currently spends about $115,000 per year for outside counsel and related services; a full-time in-house corporation counsel (salary and benefits) was estimated at about $150,000 annually, with additional costs if a legal secretary or paralegal were added. Jennifer Harper, an assistant district attorney who also serves as assistant corporation counsel under the current arrangement, warned that reducing the assistant corporation counsel position in her office would “functionally cut 20% out of my office” and could harm recruitment and retention of assistant district attorneys. Harper explained the historic structure (created to allow a combined assistant district attorney/assistant corporation counsel role) and said cutting that 20% line would make retention hard for long-serving staff.
Supporters of retaining contracted counsel said contracting avoids fixed costs when demand fluctuates and that the county currently gets a level of service that approximates 0.75 FTE when combining the contracted firm hours and Amy Forehand’s donated hours. Board members noted time-sensitive legal tasks (temporary custody, mental-health commitments) can arise with short notice and that continuity and availability are practical concerns whether counsel is in-house or contracted.
The committee discussed bidding the contract to ensure adequate hours and coverage. Administrator staff and counsel recommended putting a request for proposals or rebid language that specifies the county’s needed hourly baseline and availability requirements. The committee did not vote to make a structural change; it asked the administrator to prepare specifics (current utilization data, recommended baseline hours and cost scenarios) and to return with more information before the contract renewal timeline.
The committee also asked staff to analyze the added cost of providing an in-house counsel with a legal secretary/paralegal (staff estimated a legal secretary with salary and benefits could add about $55,000). No final staffing or budget decision was adopted; committee members requested more precise hour counts and cost scenarios to inform the July county board packet and upcoming budget deliberations.
