County attorney's daughter possible candidate for deputy county attorney post

McCOOK, Neb. — Red Willow County Attorney Paul Wood asked commissioners Monday morning to consider hiring a second part-time deputy attorney and to allow him to hire his daughter for the position.

Wood broached the subject when he submitted his proposed 2018-19 budget with a $19,020 increase on the line for a deputy attorney’s salary. Wood said that his daughter, Emily, has taken the bar exam, and if she passes, she would be able to start Oct. 1.

Currently, Wood said, the county contracts out its tax foreclosures, and the county-owned nursing home has hired its own attorney to litigate unpaid patient bills. A new deputy attorney (in addition to chief deputy Phil Lyons) could take these county functions back into the county attorney’s office, Wood said.

The workload within the county attorney’s office is increasing with a correlating rise in felonies — particularly methamphetamine violations — and juvenile crime within the county, Wood said. A new deputy attorney could also help with the juvenile diversion program that the county has resumed after ending an outside contract for it earlier this year.

In addition to work in the office, a new deputy could attend the meetings of county boards such as the commissioners, fair board, health board, Hillcrest board, zoning board, veterans board, or free time up for Wood and/or Lyons to attend these board meetings.

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The situation exists, however, that Red Willow County’s employee policy manual does not allow a department head to supervise immediate family. Wood pointed out that the exact same situation is allowed by state statute with commissioners’ approval/permission and proper disclosure. Wood said that Frontier County attorney Jon Schroeder’s daughter recently passed her bar and is her father’s deputy attorney.

The other situation that could impact the proposal to hire a new deputy attorney in the county attorney’s office is the lack of attorneys in Red Willow County and McCook. Wood said that when he became county attorney in 1991, there were 22 practicing attorneys in McCook. There are now nine, he said.

Wood said this daughter wants to return to McCook, to build her career in McCook, and to practice law with her father’s and Lyons’ law firm, which has a 100-year history of practicing law in McCook.

Both Paul Wood’s and Lyons’ work for the county is part-time. A new deputy attorney’s position with the county would also be part-time, about 25 to 30 hours a week.

Paul said his daughter has another offer of a position, outside of Red Willow County, but she wants to come home.

Many McCook and economic development programs focus on bringing McCook’s young adults back to home following college and encourage young adults to make McCook their home.

The county attorney before Paul Wood — Mike Freeman — had two deputy attorneys and contracted out child support enforcement (which Wood does within his office). Legally, Wood can hire/appoint as many deputy attorneys as he deems necessary, as long as he does not exceed the bottom line of his approved budget each year. Wood said, “I can appoint deputies. The board controls the budget.”

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After getting sidetracked a bit, commissioners returned to Wood’s proposed budget, which includes a salary for a new part-time deputy attorney.

Wood’s total proposed budget is $194,630, its personal services line (salaries) of $190,610 up $24,445 over the actual expense of $166,165 last year.

The increase includes the $19,020 salary for the new deputy attorney’s salary, as well as commissioner-approved pay raises for Wood, Lyons and the office’s clerical staff.

The $19,020 is for nine months, if Emily Wood were to start Oct. 1. The salary for that position for a full year would be $24,000, and may or may not include health insurance (a decision to be made later).

The operating expenses for Wood’s office for 2018-19 is proposed at $4,820 — which is $1,380 less than the $6,200 he budgeted last year, and just $2,292 up from actual expenses.

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Commissioners decided to sleep on the whole situation for a week, and will come back next week — Monday at 9:45 a.m. — to make a decision about Wood’s budget and hiring a new deputy attorney, and whether health insurance is/is not included.

Commissioner Steve Downer said he can see that it would be beneficial to have all the work in-house, “but we’ll get comments about hiring a family member.”

Commission chairman Earl McNutt said the county already has a department head who hires family members occasionally, without the official written permission from commissioners and full disclosure.

Fellow commissioner Jacque Riener said that she may be able to justify adding to Wood’s budget for more work, and for a new position. She also said the county’s policy regarding the hiring and supervision of a family member may need to be re-written with a caveat for a professional position, for which there is a scarcity of willing and qualified applications.