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Supervisor proposes cutting assistant county attorney post; board debates attorney pay and assigned-counsel costs
Summary
A supervisor said recruiting experienced deputies is difficult and said he may propose cutting one assistant county attorney post and reallocating funds to raise salaries; supervisors asked for more study of assigned-counsel costs and scheduled meetings with defense stakeholders.
An unidentified supervisor told the Washington County Board on Nov. 13 that recruiting experienced deputy county attorneys has become difficult and signaled an intention to propose cutting the assistant county attorney position and redistributing funds to increase pay for remaining attorneys.
"I might suggest to the board, cutting the assistant county attorney position…that 37 of that go back into the general fund, and then I spread the remainder of that amongst 3 attorney positions," the supervisor said, explaining the change would free funds to improve pay and make recruitment easier. The supervisor said the assistant position is budgeted at about $82,300 and acknowledged the proposal could be unpopular.
Other board members and staff agreed the county's attorney salaries lagged regional comparators and flagged possible backlash if raises were given to a single office while other departments received none. One supervisor urged a broader review of attorney pay across departments so increases would not be perceived as a narrow benefit.
The board linked the county attorney staffing issue to rising assigned-counsel costs. Supervisors said assigned-counsel spending has grown and that part-time or contract counsel might reduce legacy benefit costs. Several members suggested meeting with both assigned counsel and the public defender to quantify losses and understand why local attorneys are not receiving more assignments. The board scheduled follow-up meetings in January to gather numbers and explore options.
No formal staffing pattern change for the county attorney's office was voted on at the meeting; the item was announced as a forthcoming proposal to the government operations committee and the board asked staff to prepare more analysis before any policy change.
The board recorded discussion but no formal vote on restructuring the county attorney office during this session.
