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County votes to hire CMNL law firm for interim county-counsel services
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Summary
Commissioners accepted an agreement with CMNL law firm to provide as‑needed county-counsel services (Aaron Martin identified as primary counsel) while County Counselor Doug Thompson retires at year end.
After hearing from a CMNL attorney who described the firm’s municipal-law practice, Dickinson County commissioners voted to accept an agreement for as‑needed county-counsel services with CMNL, with Aaron Martin identified as the primary counsel for routine matters.
Commissioners asked about monthly billing, reimbursable expenses and how the firm would handle conflicts of interest. CMNL said it generally incurs few reimbursable expenses for routine matters, will discuss larger reimbursable projects in advance, and will seek informed consent where potential conflicts arise. Commissioners said they prefer counsel attend only as needed and that routine legal housekeeping should be managed within existing budgets.
The vote follows an announcement in the meeting that long-serving county counselor Doug Thompson will retire at the end of the year. Commissioners thanked Thompson for his service and framed the CMNL agreement as transitional coverage to ensure the county has counsel available for contracts, vendor matters and occasional litigation expertise.
The contract was approved by voice vote; the transcript records the motion and the chair’s oath of approval but does not show a roll-call tally in the public record excerpt.
Next steps: staff will place the agreement on the consent or regular agenda where necessary so the firm can begin providing services and arrange schedules for occasional in-person attendance at commissioner or department meetings where requested.
