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Human Resources <br />Cabarrus County <br /> <br />MEMORANDUM <br /> <br />To: <br /> <br />From: <br /> <br />Date: <br /> <br />John Day, County Manager <br /> <br />Don Cummings, HR Directo~~'/ <br /> <br />January 2, 2003 <br /> <br />Subject: Staff vs. Contract County Attorney <br /> <br />As requested, information comparing staff and contract County attorney follows. <br /> <br />I reviewed the 2002 Institute of Government Salary Study and most counties have a <br />combination of staff and contract legal representation. Legal specialties frequently require <br />referral and those fees are not always included in this study. I also found that DSS attorneys <br />may be listed as staff or assistant county attorneys or not included. Additional research <br />would be required for more accurate data. <br /> <br />The County's current budget for legal services include attorney costs and legal fees <br />associated with represented activities. The contracted actual hourly expense for attorney <br />representation may need to be compared to the cost of a salaried County position. Other <br />costs, as filing fees and expenses, would be the same. Some referral costs would probably <br />remain. <br /> <br />The cost for a full time staff attorney would include a salary of $75,000 to $85,000 with <br />benefits of $17,250 to $19,550 for an estimated annual total between $92,000 and $105,000. <br />Other considerations would be office space, furniture, and administrative, secretarial, or <br />paralegal assistance. <br /> <br />Attached is a comparison chart of similar size and nearby counties and the cities of Concord <br />and Kannapolis. Also, attached are copies of the 2002 Institute of Government Salary Study <br />and County Legal expenses for FY 1999 through FY 2002. <br /> <br />Please advise if additional information is needed. <br /> <br /> <br />