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City law office outlines court and victim services work; finance team flags rising credit‑card processing fees
Summary
The City Attorney's office briefed commissioners on municipal-court staffing changes, a new domestic‑violence initiative with the police department and a small budget increase tied to credit‑card processing fees that the finance team is revising with vendors.
The City Attorney's office summarized personnel changes in municipal court and its role providing in‑house legal advice to departments, and the finance director described a budget increase to cover credit‑card processing fees.
The legal presentation noted municipal court handles misdemeanors, traffic and nuisance abatement cases; juveniles and felonies go to district court. The office listed court staff and recent hires — a new prosecutor and prosecutor's assistant, a probation officer, a victim‑witness coordinator and a part‑time contractor municipal judge (Kelly Schodorf). A staff member identified as Baron is splitting time between court docket duties and civil work in the city attorney's office.
The victim‑witness coordinator is launching a joint domestic‑violence initiative with the Police Department focused on victim services, while preserving the court's independence, the presenter said.
Finance staff and the City Attorney discussed credit‑card processing fees. The finance presenter said the city uses a vendor (OpenEdge via Tyler) whose interchange fees had risen dramatically quarter to quarter; after staff inquiry the vendor reduced rates and the city is exploring other vendors. The law presenter noted an approximately $13,000 annual increase in the department's budget tied to credit‑card processing shifting to the department's line items.
Ending: The City Attorney asked commissioners to expect staffing transitions to settle later in the year, and finance staff said they would continue vendor negotiations, monitor fees and report back.
