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Council approves six-month MOU with county for city-court prosecutions; discusses outside civil counsel options
Summary
The council approved a six-month trial MOU for the county attorney's office to handle city-court prosecutions, with a review after five months; the council also discussed RFQ responses for civil legal services and identified a candidate (Daniel Jones) with differing hourly rates quoted in the meeting record.
The chair reported that the county attorney's office has agreed to handle prosecutions for Deer Lodge's city court on a six-month trial basis and that county commissioners authorized the MOU. The council recorded aye votes from multiple members and the chair said the agreement will be reviewed in five months to determine whether it is working for the city and whether costs need adjustment.
On civil legal matters, the chair described a League of Cities and Towns referral and RFQ process for outside civil counsel. The chair said one candidate—identified as Daniel Jones—has experience with other small cities and could provide remote and on-site services if needed. During the meeting the chair stated billing levels for different staff: an assistant attorney and a paralegal rate were described; the transcript contains an unclear figure for the top-tier hourly rate that appears garbled and could not be verified from the audio alone.
The city signaled a preference to trial the county prosecution arrangement first while continuing to evaluate options for civil representation, and the council noted potential future conversation about hiring an in-house city attorney versus contracting for services.
