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County to shift some public defenders to contract pay; board discusses eliminating payroll positions
Summary
County staff requested transfers totaling roughly $61,000 across funds to pay two public defenders as contract services rather than payroll; board members recommended eliminating the payroll position if converted to contract and suggested revising the agenda for a clean budget change.
Officials described two related funding requests to move public defender pay out of county payroll and into contract‑service line items.
"We will be requesting, transfer and professionals to other professional services with $31,001.22 for our public defender," said Speaker 6, who identified the first contract target as attorney Nicholas Barnes and explained the request would move an existing county position'budget into a professional services line so the person could be paid as a contractor. Speaker 6 also asked to create a new supplemental line item and an appropriation of $30,000 for a second contracted public defender.
Board members questioned whether the existing payroll position should be formally eliminated if the work is converted to contractual payment. "But if you're going to eliminate that position... then the position should be eliminated, which is a bit just an additional step," Speaker 2 said, urging a clean change to avoid having both a contractual line and a vacant position on the books. Speaker 5 agreed a revision to the agenda could be made before the Tuesday meeting.
The transcript does not record a formal vote on either transfer or appropriation. The board directed staff to prepare a revised item to clarify whether the position will be eliminated and to present the clean budget change.
