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Scott County attorney asks board to approve higher pay step to retain experienced lawyer amid staffing shortages
Summary
The county attorney said statewide shortages have made hiring difficult; he asked the board to approve an out‑of‑cycle hiring exception to bring an experienced attorney (Mickie Meyer) in at just above $117,000 for a senior position after losing assistants to higher pay elsewhere.
The county attorney told supervisors on Sept. 23 that county attorney offices statewide face a shortage of applicants and staffing stress, and he asked for a hiring exception that would allow Scott County to bring a senior attorney back into county service at a pay level slightly above her previous $117,000 salary.
S22 explained that a first assistant (Micah Johnson) accepted a $136,000 offer in Muscatine County, and other assistants have left for higher pay elsewhere. He said the office has interviewed Mickie Meyer — a candidate with prior experience in the office, private practice and federal arsenal work — and requested approval to hire her into a senior position at a pay step that would keep her pay near her previous $117,000 instead of requiring a large pay cut.
"I'm asking for approval to bring Mickie in at a higher pay scale where she would just be making a little over a $117,000," S22 said. Supervisors asked whether the off‑cycle pay exception would avoid additional future requests; S22 said the hire would slot into an existing senior position and reduce the need to return for further pay exceptions for that vacancy.
Board members discussed attorney fatigue, impacts on speedy‑trial timelines, and the broader difficulty of staffing legal offices. The board did not record a formal vote in the committee session.
