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Legal and municipal court head outlines staffing, counsel costs and IT budget shifts
Summary
The Legal and Court Department head said the office covers both the city attorney functions and municipal court, noted IT shifts that reduced hardware/software lines, and pointed to increased city contributions for medical/dental that raised some budget lines.
The department head for the city's Legal and Court Department presented an overview of staffing and budget changes and invited questions from commissioners.
"One of the 18 hats I wear in the city," the department head said, describing oversight of both the city attorney's office and municipal court. He listed staff positions: an assistant city attorney, two legal assistants, a court administrator with three clerks, and a bailiff who also provides security and inmate transport.
He said IT is assuming some software and hardware costs, which reduced his departmental capital and subscription lines. At the same time, city contributions to employee medical and dental coverage rose: one line was discussed moving from about $24,600 to $51,103.32, which the department attributed to a policy change that expanded benefit coverage.
Asked about personnel changes, the presenter said a contract prosecutor (named Hankin in the discussion) was being converted to a full-time employee, a shift that affects personnel totals. He also discussed the city's arrangements for appointed counsel and a main public defender and described the flat-rate pay approach the city uses for appointed cases.
Commissioners requested clearer percentage displays for department requests and asked for follow-up data as the budget process continues. No formal action on the legal budget was taken at the meeting.
