Commissioners approve posting of in-house Director of Legal Affairs after heated debate over corporate counsel

The Ottawa County Board of Commissioners voted March 24 to create and post a Director of Legal Affairs position, a salaried in-house role the administrator will oversee, while preserving a board-appointed corporate counsel role for matters where the board seeks independent legal advice. The motion passed after an amendment clarifying the new position "does not replace corporate counsel to the board."

Commissioners spent more than an hour debating the change. One commissioner framed the proposal as "creating a county attorney that, that would represent the departments and be accessible to us, but department heads as well run through the administration as a department head," arguing the role would handle day-to-day legal questions. Other commissioners worried about losing direct board access to corporate counsel and urged the board to define how outside counsel would be used. The administrator told the board the county currently retains outside firms for litigation and specific functions and said the new in-house position would act as a "clearing house" before outside counsel is engaged.

Several commissioners said they supported an in-house, fixed-cost legal expert for routine matters and a separate board-level corporate counsel on retainer or hourly terms for litigation and when the board requires independent advice. One longtime county attorney encouraged the board to avoid creating overlapping roles that could deter candidates, noting modern legal tools can quickly produce research but judgment and relationship-building remain central to the job.

The board adopted the position and directed staff to update relevant policies and to bring recommended language to the Planning & Policy Committee to clarify interactions between the Director of Legal Affairs and board-appointed counsel.