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Prosecutor—s office cleared to split 117 budgeted intern hours; shared Shoshone County attorney proposal deferred
Summary
The board approved a budget action allowing the prosecuting attorney to split the office—s budgeted 117 hours across more than three interns. A related request to share an attorney with Shoshone County was discussed but not approved and was deferred to an Aug. 7 HR meeting for further financial and legal analysis.
Prosecuting Attorney Stanley Mortensen told the board on July 29 that his office is budgeted for 117 hours per pay period for three part-time intern positions but that semester schedules mean the office sometimes needs more, shorter-duration interns. He asked the board for approval to divide the budgeted 117 hours across more than three positions so the office can add a fourth or more interns in some semesters without returning to the board for each staffing variation. "Essentially, what I'm asking for is the ability to split those hundred and 17 hours by more than 3 positions," Mortensen said.
The board approved that budget flexibility; the motion was moved, seconded and recorded as carried.
Mortensen also described a potential arrangement with neighboring Shoshone County in which a current intern (who is taking the bar) could be employed by Shoshone County for up to 30 hours a week while Kootenai would reimburse for roughly 10 hours of work performed in Kootenai County. He said he preferred to pay the reimbursement from attorney salary savings if possible but acknowledged that, worst case, intern salary savings might be used temporarily. Commissioners asked for more concrete projections and legal/HR input before approving reimbursement arrangements.
Deputy Brandy Falcon clarified the county—s administrative approach to such arrangements: "If I'm understanding correctly, this person is gonna be an employee of Shoshone County. So for Kootenai County on our side, this is not a personnel expense because we're not contributing to their PERSI... They would invoice Kootenai County and that would be a B-budget expense for the prosecutor," Falcon said, noting the need for an invoice and possible MOU.
Because of outstanding questions about loaded wage calculations, benefits, and exact reimbursement mechanics, the board asked staff to return to Human Resources on Aug. 7 with projections and legal recommendations. Mortensen said he will prepare a projection and may reapproach the board if needed.
Why it matters: the approved intern-hour flexibility lets the prosecutor—s office use existing budgeted hours to expand intern support when semester schedules warrant, and the Shoshone County proposal could create a short-term shared attorney arrangement but requires legal, HR and budget clarifications before approval.
Next step: prosecuting attorney to provide detailed cost projections; HR and legal to advise on feasibility and MOU requirements at the Aug. 7 meeting.
