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County staff seek $100,000 from contingency to cover appeal defense costs
Summary
A request from the Legal Defenders program for $100,000 in contingency funding to cover higher-than-budgeted appeal costs was described by Controller Scott Parke; Commissioners characterized the issue as ongoing and appropriate for contingency use.
Controller Scott Parke summarized a request from Legal Defenders Coordinator Todd Utzinger for an additional $100,000 from the Contingency Fund to cover appeal-defense costs that exceeded the office's intentionally underfunded baseline. Parke said the County purposefully under-appropriates that budget and uses contingency as necessary. He added the $100,000 should cover most of the year, though additional funds could be needed in the fourth quarter.
Commissioner Bob Stevenson noted the issue has required sustained attention and suggested it will need ongoing management, while Vice Chair Lorene Kamalu said she considered the contingency request an appropriate use because the County lacks direct control over appeal costs. Parke compared Davis County's model to higher-cost approaches used elsewhere, and Kamalu called Davis County's model “the least expensive option for quality defense that she has seen in the State.”
