By Marvin G. Cortner
Editor

The Osceola County Commission Monday in a 4-1 vote cut the county legal department budget down to $1 million or less for the next fiscal year and agreed to continue looking at possibly outsourcing legal work.

The move followed the dismissal of a county attorney in December and discussions over the last few months on how to cut costs in that department. The budget for the department for the 2010-11 fiscal year, which started Oct. 1, is $1.48 million.

Commission Chairman Brandon Arrington, the lone vote against the budget cut and one of two votes against dismissing then-County Attorney Jo Thacker, said now is not the time to discuss cutting the budget.

“I like the services we have now,” he said. “If, in four months, we find out we have a lot less money, then this would be a great conversation to have. I'm not a huge fan of outsourcing; I still haven't seen how we can save money … it costs $150 to $200 an hour for attorneys at other agencies.

Arrington said that with salaried staff providing the county's legal work, costs can be predicted.

“If we outsource, are we going to set caps on the work, are we going to cut down on the number of questions that can be answered by the various departments?” Arrington asked.

Commissioner Frank Attkisson said it should be left up to the new county attorney to decide how best to meet the new budget, whether that be by outsourcing work or by cutting staff, or a combination of the two.

Commissioner John Quiñones said a fully privatized legal department would be “complicated and cumbersome” but that certain kinds of legal work, like acquiring right of way, could be outsourced.  He added that Osceola County had high legal costs, pointing to Lake County as an example, a county with more population but with $600,000 less in its legal department budget.

“Entire real estate divisions of law firms have been downsized; there is not a shortage of attorneys now; it's incumbent on us to take advantage of that,” Quiñones said.

Commissioner Fred Hawkins Jr., the other vote to keep Thacker, said he did not want to outsource legal work but did want to see a reduced budget.

“I never supported letting staff go in the legal department,” he said, adding that current staff taking salary cuts might be the better route.

“There is so much that they do,” Hawkins said, adding that funding an outside attorney to handle right of way might be appropriate, given that commissioner complaints about how right of way was handled in the past led to the changes in December. “You have to look at what kind of work you send out, it can be very expensive.”

George Nickerson, interim county attorney, provided commissioners with several options moving forward: keep the current staffing at five attorneys and four support staff (for $1.25 million), down from the currently budgeted six attorneys and five support staff; go with mid-range staffing (three attorneys and three support staff) for $722,168; or hire a county attorney only and two support staff, at an annualized cost of $391,996, with the attorney handling a small amount of legal work and overseeing the work of private attorneys.

Nickerson cautioned that fully privatizing the legal department – by having a private attorney or a firm serve as county attorney – would be “problematic” under the county charter.

“I have reviewed all of the minutes from the 1990 Charter Review Committee and did not find any discussion of this provision,” Nickerson wrote in his report. “While the language is not definitive, I believe it contemplates a county legal department, not exclusive use of a private firm.

“I do believe the charter would permit you to contract with a private attorney to serve as county attorney and supervise a department staff. The charter also expressly authorizes the use of outside counsel, with Board approval.”

Nickerson stated that he believes his department would be able to maintain most services at the current staffing level, though there likely would be delays in delivery of general services and the department's ability to handle special projects.

The mid-range staffing, Nickerson stated, would require more outside counsel. And with only one county attorney, that person's primary duty would involve preparation for and attendance of various meetings, management of contracts with outside counsel and limited legal work.

The county-attorney-only option, stated Nickerson, would likely require extensive use of outside counsel for which he was “unable to estimate the cost.”

After deciding to cut the budget, the commission then established the manner by which a permanent county attorney would be recruited.

Initially, the job would be advertised with potential candidates providing letters of interest. Then, the commissioners individually would review candidates and establish a shortlist. The commission then would rank the short-listed candidates, with the county manager negotiating with the top-ranked individual.

The county at the same time also will seek letters of interest from firms that might want one of their attorneys to serve as county attorney.

“We could have a contract by June 13, with a start of June 20,” County Manager Don Fisher said.