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Commission approves adding assistant city attorney after office details caseload increase
Summary
City Attorney Sarah Hedges told commissioners legal requests rose from about 147 to 247 year‑over‑year and cited growth in risk protection orders and forfeiture work; the commission voted unanimously to approve an additional assistant city attorney position and asked staff to move forward with recruitment.
City Attorney Sarah Hedges asked the Fort Pierce City Commission on June 10 to add an assistant city attorney because formal requests for legal services have increased substantially. "Currently I looked at the numbers of requests for legal services for this year; it is now up to 247 as of today compared to 147 at this time last year," Hedges said, outlining the workload that includes risk protection orders, forfeitures and annexation ordinances.
Hedges described operational reasons for seeking another hire: growing caseloads, specialized hearings that require attorney attendance, and a desire to keep more work in‑house rather than relying on outside counsel. She told commissioners that the finance director has built the position into the next fiscal year27s budget and that, if the city identifies a candidate quickly, a September or October start could be possible. Hedges said there is sufficient money in the outside‑counsel budget this fiscal year if an earlier hire becomes available.
Commissioner Gaines moved to accept the request and Commissioner Broderick seconded. The motion passed on a roll call vote with all present commissioners recorded as voting yes (Broderick: yes; Gaines: yes; C. Johnson: yes; Jay Johnson: yes; Mayor Hudson: yes).
Supporters on the dais argued that an additional in‑house attorney would speed review of departmental requests and reduce reliance on outside counsel. "It will get things back out a lot quicker," Hedges said, while commissioners emphasized the importance of having counsel devoted full time to city business.
The commission directed staff to proceed with recruitment and to include the new position in budget planning. The motion did not specify job grade details beyond the HR classification possibilities Hedges discussed (assistant and senior assistant roles); staff will return with recruitment steps and any required salary adjustments.
