Council approves advertised transfers, considers hiring a temporary deputy prosecutor

The Rush County Council approved several advertised transfers and discussed staffing and appropriations, including a request to hire a short-term deputy prosecutor after a primary election victory.

A county office (speaker identified in the transcript as Jeff Wilson) asked the council to transfer $868.34 from the witness fee account to the deputy prosecutor payroll line to cover a shortfall and to move $2,500 from contract services into a part-time pay line for an employee working additional hours. The council approved the advertised transfer by voice/raised-hand vote.

Wilson also reported that Deputy Prosecutor David Thompson won a primary and is expected to become a judge in January. He asked for permission to advertise and hire a replacement to start Nov. 4 and work the last two months of the year so Thompson can train the replacement; estimated two-month cost was $17,399.20 and Wilson requested authorization to budget $18,000 to cover the expense.

Separately, an agency representative requested appropriation of $4,000 from the supplemental public defender fund (non-tax dollars from defendant reimbursements) for program needs and civic documents; the presenter said the fund balance is about $90,000 and annual appropriations of roughly $20,000 are typical. The council also reviewed advertised items tied to grant awards (including a pet grant with supplies, travel and service line items) and an advertised additional appropriation to move capital outlay into furniture and equipment totaling $70,516.75.

The council handled advertisement steps for these items; final appropriations and hires will proceed through the county's standard advertisement and approval procedures.

Speakers quoted here are drawn from the meeting transcript and appear in the meeting speaker roster.