Board approves recruitment and retention payments for county attorneys

The board authorized use of existing fiscal-year vacancy savings to fund targeted recruitment incentives and one-time longevity payments for attorney positions across multiple legal departments.

Director Mornian (speaker 10) told supervisors the legal offices had significant vacancies and are projected to produce around $1.1 million in vacancy savings this fiscal year. The proposed recruitment package (Item 50) would use a portion of those savings for one-time recruitment incentive payments estimated at $110,000; recipients would sign agreements committing to two years of service or repay a prorated amount. A separate longevity/retention payment request (Item 51) would make one-time payments to existing attorneys at an estimated total cost of $360,000; those payments also carry signed obligations and repayment language if an employee is terminated for cause.

Supervisors asked about contract terms, termination-for-cause repayment triggers and the number of attorneys who could receive payments. Staff confirmed the proposal covers roughly 36 attorney positions across the County Attorney's Office, Public Defender, Legal Defender and Legal Advocate departments, with proposed per-person amounts described in staff backup. Both the recruitment and retention items passed on voice votes.

An additional administrative transfer (Item 52) was approved to cover County Attorney Office furniture costs tied to the Legal Services Center. The board directed staff to finalize agreements and follow the repayment provisions as part of hiring and retention efforts.