Solicitor general asks council for pay parity; council punts to midyear budget review

Siobhan Thomas, Columbus’ solicitor general, told City Council she is struggling to recruit and retain prosecutors with the office’s current starting salary and asked the council to consider moving the incoming attorney pay to parity with the district attorney and public defender offices and to approve a discretionary recruiting budget.

Thomas said the solicitor general’s posted starting salary of roughly $62,000 is too low to compete with surrounding jurisdictions and private practice. "We are just not in a place where I can retain and incentivize," she said, adding that an experienced candidate could command substantially higher compensation and that her office is managing a large caseload while operating understaffed.

Council members debated whether the request should be treated as an emergency. Councilor Garrett and others acknowledged the workload pressures — Thomas said an additional attorney could inherit roughly 3,000 cases — but Mayor Pro Tem and other members emphasized the council’s budgetary ordinance and the need for a consistent citywide approach to pay adjustments. Several councilors said changes of this magnitude normally follow the budget process to avoid creating a precedent for ad hoc midterm raises.

After extended discussion, councilors moved and seconded a plan to take the solicitor general’s request to the midyear budget adjustment for formal consideration and analysis by HR and finance. That motion passed on voice vote. Council asked staff to return with pay‑grade context, comparisons of supplements for prosecutors in nearby offices, and an estimate of the fiscal impact at midyear.

No immediate salary increases were approved at the Nov. 6 meeting.