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Council hires local lawyer as civil counsel, approves justice‑court pay increase
Summary
After reviewing two proposals, the council approved hiring local attorney Berkley Hart for civil work and passed a resolution increasing the justice court prosecutor's monthly pay to reflect higher caseloads.
Orderville councilors approved hiring a local attorney to serve as the town’s civil counsel and separately amended the employment agreement for the town’s justice‑court prosecutor to reflect rising caseloads.
Berkley Hart (speaker 9) introduced himself during the RFP review, saying he currently works as a deputy county attorney in King County and lives locally; he offered a monthly proposal rather than an hourly fee. Council members cited the advantage of an in‑person, local attorney when evaluating proposals and compared Hart’s monthly retainer to other firms’ hourly rates before moving to retain him.
On court staffing, councilors reviewed a request to amend the justice‑court prosecutor’s pay. Staff reported case volume rising from six‑to‑eight cases per month to roughly 12–15 monthly after increased local enforcement. The prosecutor had requested an increase from $850 to $1,000 per month; council approved the resolution amending the employment agreement.
Both measures passed by voice vote; councilors thanked the new civil counsel candidate and approved the prosecutor pay amendment to reflect the higher workload.
