County attorney candidates spar on office reorganization

Two Democrats running to be the next Hill County Attorney disagree on whether a plan to eliminate two vacant positions in the office and use the savings to hire a third deputy county attorney would be good for the office.

Deputy County Attorney Karen Alley and local attorney Randy Randolph are running in the June 5 Democratic primary.

County Attorney Cole-Hodgkinson opted not to run in the election.

No other candidates filed in the race.

The plan approved Thursday by the Hill County Commissioners in a 2 to 1 vote allows Cole-Hodgkinson to eliminate the open part-time personnel clerk position - vacant since October - and the full-time office manager position-vacant since last month. Money in the 2018 budget set aside for salaries and benefits for those positions will be used for a new deputy country attorney.

Commissioner Mike Wendland said Monday that he voted against the change, while Commission Chair Mark Peterson and Vice-Chair Diane McLean voted for it.

Alley said Sunday that she thinks an additional deputy county attorney will benefit the office.

"I think it helps set the office up for future success, giving us another trained attorney or somebody with an attorney's training to assist not only with courts, but with civil issues that the county also relies on us to advise them on," Alley said.

She said the four attorneys will be expected to do more of their own casework in lieu of an office manager, and the duties involving personnel will be divided among the attorneys. The office's two legal secretaries will still be in the office. However, Alley said, she already does much of that herself.

Randolph, said Monday he disagrees with the plan. He added that Alley was not at the March 20 or

March 26 public meetings in the commissioner's office related to the change and so did not hear the public input.

Alley said Tuesday that when the first meeting happened, she was in Hill County Justice Court, and

the second meeting coincided with a meeting she a had at the child advocacy center.

The commissioners, Alley added, also set the second meeting without consulting the office and the availability of all attorneys in the office.

Randolph said he does not see the need for hiring another deputy county attorney.

"It doesn't make sense to me," he said.

As an attorney, Randolph said, he relies on the office manager to pass on messages, answer calls and provide documents. He added that while the office has experienced high turnover among county attorneys, a person in the office manager position tends to stay in the position for a long time.

"I think it is important to have someone from the community that is going to stick around for a while and be consistent when there is a revolving door of attorneys," he said.

Alley said that although the new position will include duties related to human resources, the new hire will perform duties similar to the other deputy attorneys. Those duties will include Justice Court cases and a host of civil matters the office handles for the county, such as reviewing and drafting contracts and leases and giving title opinions on real estate, she said.

She said a new deputy county attorney will allow the office to get more of that work done faster.

Randolph said Tuesday that while the number of Justice Court cases has increased, those cases are misdemeanors and less time-consuming than felonies in District Court, which he said have decreased significantly.

He said he believes that there have been few civil cases filed in the last several years and handled by the office. Most of the cases were about county personnel issues that an attorney is not needed for.

"With proper time and office management, a fourth attorney is not needed. However, an office manager and personnel clerk are essential to any office running efficiently," Randolph said.

He said that instead of hiring another deputy county attorney, the personnel clerk and office manager should be combined into one position.

Alley said she does not think such an arrangement would work.

Merging the two positions into one, she said, would force one individual to do 60 hours of work a week, something that she said is unrealistic.

Randolph said whomever is hired as an attorney will likely have to work more than 40 hours a week.

"My position is that it would be more efficient to have an office manager do that work and that it will be cheaper in the long run," he said.