LAKEPORT >> For the second time in a month the Board of Supervisors took up the matter of options for county public defender services. The discussion took place in the board”s regular meeting on Tuesday.
During a special meeting on Sept. 30, the board approved a 90-day termination notice for Lake Legal Defense Services (LLDS) with a 3-1 vote. District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farringon dissented and District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith was absent from the special meeting.
The company provides court-appointed legal representation for the county by subcontracting local attorneys.
Steven Carter, president of LLDS is reportedly no longer able to run the corporation because of a medical condition. The administrative office received a document the morning of Sept. 30 authorizing Angela Carter, Steven”s wife, to run to the company.
By giving a 90-day notice to the company, renegotiation of the contract remained possible.
Options presented to the supervisors by Lake County Administrative Officer Matt Perry included contracting directly with individual attorneys, with a consortium of individual attorneys or an existing legal firm; creating a county public defender office or continuing with the current model of contracting with a corporation specializing in public defense services.
The board unanimously approved continuing with the current model.
“I think it is in the best interest of the county and the taxpayers,” District 1 Supervisor Jim Comstock said.
If the decision to create a county public defender office was approved, Perry said “it could easily be $200,000 to $300,000 more per year than the cost of the current contract.”
The county has contracted LLDS for 14 years. Prior to entering the contract, the county contracted directly with individual attorneys.
“The individual contracts were administered by staff in the county administration office,” Perry said. “An alternative would be to have the contracts administered by staff in county counsel office.”
Additional staffing may have been required if contracting with individual attorneys was approved.
Farrington expressed concerns regarding transparency if the current model was continued, saying he wanted to know how much each attorney subcontracted by LLDS was paid.
Carter did provide the county with the percentages of the contract used for administrative costs and subcontracting, but not individual attorney salaries.
District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown said that if transparency is pushed for the LLDS contract, it would have to be done with all other contracts.
Divulging the details of attorney salaries with the supervisors or with county staff was mentioned.
“That can”t be done without providing it to the public,” County Counsel Anita Grant said.
J.W. Burch can be reached at 900-2022
