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Franklin County sets rotation and extra pay for off-hours arraignments, amends defender appointments
Summary
The Legislature approved amendments to Public Defender and Alternate Conflict Defender appointments and adopted a rotation and pay structure for attorneys covering off-hours arraignments: a weekly stipend of $900 above base salary, effective March 6, 2017, with quarterly re-evaluation and funding tied to a New York State indigent legal services contract.
Franklin County's Legislature unanimously approved a package of resolutions March 2 that amend defender appointments and establish a rotation and pay for attorneys handling off-hours arraignments following a recent state law change.
Resolutions amending the Public Defender appointment and the Alternate Conflict Defender appointment update salary language to follow the county's non-union salary policy and to allow additional compensation tied to grant funding from the New York State Office of Indigent Legal Services. The Legislature then adopted a separate resolution (No. 65) establishing a weekly rotation among attorneys in the Public Defender, Conflict Defender and Alternate Conflict Defender offices to cover off-hours arraignments (before 8 a.m., after 4 p.m. weekdays and 24 hours on weekends).
Under the new arrangement, attorneys assigned to the week'long rotation will receive $900 above his or her base salary for that week, effective March 6, 2017. The resolution says the weekly amount will be re-evaluated quarterly and adjusted based on the number of off-hours arraignments performed; if existing attorneys are not available, the county may recruit from the Franklin County Bar Association. Funding is tied to New York State Office of Indigent Legal Services Contract #C000716 Distribution #5. The motions were offered and adopted without recorded dissension.
The package responds to a Nov. 28, 2016 amendment to state law concerning off-hours arraignments that took effect Feb. 26, 2017, and formalizes compensation and staffing expectations at the county level.
