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County attorney Gary Olsen asks for 1.35 more attorneys as York County caseloads rise
Summary
Gary Olsen said his office currently has 2.65 attorneys but workload equals about five full-time equivalents; he proposed moving Nathaniel to full time and hiring another attorney to handle rising jury and DUID case volume.
Gary Olsen, the county attorney, told the board his budget request reflects increased workload and the need for additional attorneys.
"Right now, we had 2.65 attorneys... and what we with the math, truly comes to for a full time equivalent for our volume is 5," Olsen said, explaining most of his budget increase is for 1.35 additional full'time attorney equivalents (moving Nathaniel from part time to full time and hiring another attorney). He said the office included a higher increase for the office manager and noted the county attorney's own salary was factored into the request.
Olsen compared York County's caseload to neighboring counties and said York rivals Platte and Dodge in case numbers; he said DUID cases (drug'impaired driving) are especially time'intensive because they lack a simple blood alcohol objective measure and require much more attorney preparation. He also raised autopsy expenses as a volatile, hard'to'predict cost and offered to email countywide court case data to the board for verification.
Commissioners questioned a large overtime line item in Olsen's draft budget and asked whether shifting Nathaniel to full time would affect other duties such as zoning work; Olsen said some numbers could be on the high end and that he would follow up with adjustments and supporting documentation.
