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Board approves holiday standby compensation adjustments for prosecutors, public defenders and justice court
Summary
Following 2025 legislation, the board approved changing flat weekend standby pay to a per‑day holiday rate for district attorneys, public defenders and the justice of the peace, applying the change retroactively to holidays already in the current fiscal year.
Staff presented a change needed to align county pay practices with 2025 legislation from the Department of Indigent Defense Services (DIDs). Sherry told the board that DIDs now authorizes per‑day pay for attorneys covering trials that fall on holidays; previously the county paid a flat weekend standby rate.
Under the proposed change the county will split the flat weekend payment into a daily rate so that if a holiday falls on a single weekday (for example a Monday or Friday) the attorney who covers that day is paid for that day. Staff proposed making the change retroactive to holidays already in the current fiscal year (July and Labor Day) because the DIDs form requires per‑day accounting.
Commissioners asked clarifying questions about whether the county was adding money beyond the existing weekend payment; staff said the DIDs would add funding for the extra day and the county had historically paid a flat weekend rate of $637. The motion to approve the adjusted standby compensation for district attorneys, public defenders and the justice of the peace passed on voice vote.
