Ada County's Prosecuting Attorney, Jan Bennett, told commissioners Dec. 30 that recruiting and retaining attorneys has become "crisis level," driven by rapid market increases in starting salaries across neighboring jurisdictions. Bennett said the office has used salary savings from turnover and an open position to fund market adjustments that amount to roughly 1.2% of her overall budget.

Bennett described competitors' starting salaries in nearby counties and state offices (some reported in the low-to-mid $90,000s), and said the shortage is causing caseload pressure and training costs when staff leave for higher pay. "If we do not ask for these adjustments, I would be derelict in my responsibility," she said, explaining that failing to act would harm staff morale and public service.

Human Resources director Bethany (surname not provided in the transcript) explained the process for personnel actions: departments perform job audits, HR conducts market analyses against a set of comparator jurisdictions, and the auditor's office verifies funding at the position-control number (PCN) level. PCNs are used to ensure midyear moves do not increase the county's overall personnel budget; funds are moved between PCNs or pooled from salary savings generated by turnover and promotions.

Sheriff's Office representatives confirmed similar churn dynamics and said internal promotions and lateral moves often create salary savings that can be reallocated. Commissioners asked for clearer documentation and more transparency in examples; staff agreed to provide additional notes and sample methodologies in future reports.

The board approved the personnel actions package (which included dozens of transfers, reclassifications, market adjustments, merit allocations and special salary adjustments) by voice vote.