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County attorney briefs court on recruitment struggles and asks for pay reclassifications
Summary
County Attorney Laura Jimenez told the court her 11‑attorney office is struggling to recruit and retain experienced lawyers and asked for reclassification and pay raises to make entry pay competitive with similar counties; she cited vacancies and a heavy workload of CPS and public‑information matters.
Laura Jimenez, the county attorney, asked Commissioners Court to consider salary improvements and reclassifications to help recruit experienced attorneys and retain long‑time staff. Jimenez said the office has 11 attorneys, several current vacancies and difficulty hiring experienced candidates; she urged a base entry salary in the roughly $75,000 range to improve competitiveness with counties of comparable size.
"We're having a lot of trouble now that we didn't before," Jimenez said, describing recent turnover and an inability to fill positions. She noted the office handles a wide array of matters for the county — from advising departments to filing protective orders and responding to public‑information requests — and argued experience is critical to prevent litigation and handle complex projects.
Commissioners asked her to supply comparative pay schedules for like counties and to work with the auditor on offsets and classification steps. The court emphasized the importance of keeping the county attorney’s office at budgeted capacity because the court relies on timely legal advice on contracts and other county business.
No formal action was taken; commissioners requested supplemental pay‑scale comparisons and asked staff to incorporate the county attorney’s proposed reclassifications into the shared budget package for further review.
