Domestic relations court asks to shift clerk salary to general fund to free mediation funds for attorney mediator

Domestic Relations Judge Beth Owens presented the court27s 2026 budget and asked the commissioners to move an assignment clerk27s salary from a non-general mediation fund into the general fund so the mediation fund can be used to retain an attorney mediator.

Owens told the board that the court has for the last three years paid an employee out of its mediation fund and that the mediation fund has been depleted. The judge said the court has had success using mediators and is seeking to use mediation fund dollars to pay an attorney-mediator to handle more difficult cases; she identified Brian Kellogg as a recently certified domestic relations mediator whom the court expects to use.

Specifically, Owens asked that one assignment clerk (identified in the materials as Jenny C.) be funded 100% from the general fund in 2026 (the clerk was previously funded 50% from mediation and 50% from general), which would free roughly the same dollars in the mediation fund to recruit a part-time attorney mediator.

Commissioners pressed on hourly rates and staffing lines (staff referenced a mediation schedule showing Sarah Froinlich and hourly rates), noted discrepancies between year-to-date columns and proposed appropriations, and questioned why several court employees appeared outside county pay scales. Owens said she had not formally adopted the county pay scale for the court and that staff job descriptions could be revised for regrading if appropriate.

No formal board action on the requested position reallocation was taken at the meeting; staff were directed to clarify the personal-service schedule headings and return with corrected, line-by-line figures and personnel classifications.