County commission reorganizes county attorney office

The Hill County Commission Thursday voted to allow County Attorney Jessica Cole-Hodgkinson to eliminate two vacant positions in her office and replace them with a third deputy county attorney, a move she has said. will save the county money and help her office handle cases faster.

Hill County Commission Chair Mark Peterson said the commissioners voted 2 to 1 to make the change.

Commission Vice Chair Diane McLean said that the vote took place during the commission’s weekly business meeting. The commission’s public agenda said that meeting took place at 10 a.m. Thursday.

Peterson and McLean declined to say how they and fellow commissioner Mike Wendland voted on the matter.

“I don’t want to try to relive the meeting,” McLean said Thursday night.

The Havre Daily News did not receive any agenda or item listing the discussion and vote on the issue to publish so county residents could attend the discussion and see the vote. No one answered a call to the commission office this morning.

Cole-Hoodgkinson said she will likely start advertising for the new position Monday. The hiring timeline will depend on the nature and needs of the applicants.

Peterson said the change was not made lightly and comes after the county advertised but was unable to find a qualified applicant for either position.

“The decision was not an easy one and we spent quite a lot of time discussing it,” he said.

The vote came after public meetings March 20 and Monday.

Cole-Hodgkinson said at the March 20 meeting that by combining the salaries and benefits of the two positions, she can hire a third deputy attorney for less than the total funds approved in the 2017-2018 budget,

She has also said that the duties of office manager and personnel clerk would be handled by one of the county attorneys, and help with the case load in Justice Court.

Cole-Hodgkinson said attorneys usually have training in employment rules and regulations that would save money that the county would spend on training. She has also said that unlike the other two positions, a deputy county attorney is a salaried position and the county would not have to pay a county attorney for overtime hours.

Cole-Hodgkinson praised the decision Thursday via text message.

“I have been a prosecutor for more than a decade, and I have been the head of this office for more than a year,” she said “At this time, I have the best vantage point, and I am confident that the third deputy is the best way to give my successor — whomever that will be — what they will need to be successful in the future.”

Randy Randolph, a local attorney and candidate running in the June 5 Democratic primary to replace Cole-Hodgkinson said that he is disappointed by the decision.

Randolph and Deputy County Attorney Karen Alley are competing in the primary to succeed Cole-Hodgkinson, who has opted not to run for re-election. No other candidates have filed in the election.

He said a better solution would be to combine the office manager and personnel clerk position instead of hiring a third deputy-county attorney.

“I don’t see why they need four attorneys in that office,” he said.

The office manager position is important, Randolph added.

“That position is someone as a defense attorney I have relied on to return calls and get messages to the attorneys,” he said.

Cole-Hodgkinson said Thursday that there have been some misconceptions about her proposal.

“I’m not sure it was clear to everyone that I will still have two fulltime experienced legal secretaries. I am not (replacing) all support staff with an attorney,” she said in the text message.

She said the new deputy attorney will not be expected to do all the human resources and office manager duties covered by the two former positions.

“My intention is to access their skills and figure out how they can best serve the office, but if they have little practical legal experience, I will probably assign the new attorney to Justice Court with another to act as mentor, then assign responsibilities among the other three attorneys based on experience and inclination,” she said

Randolph said that, if elected, he would have to look at the numbers to decide if he would do away with the new deputy attorney position.

Peterson said that if the new arrangement does not work, the commission will look at bringing back an office manager position.

However, he said, doing so would not save and could cost the county money. Under the new arrangement, the county has to pay for the health care benefits of one employee but under the old arrangement they would have to pay the benefits of two county employees, which is a difference of about $7,000 in cost to the county.