Is low pay connected to slow case work at county attorney's office?

A concern about the amount of time it takes for cases to come to fruition at the Bourbon County Attorney's Office was expressed during Friday's county commission meeting. But Interim County Attorney Justin Meeks said the issue should be resolved soon.

Greg Schick asked for clarification on who is responsible for hiring assistant county attorneys and the office's budget. Third District Commission Harold Coleman said hiring is done by the elected official, which would be the county attorney, or in this case, the interim county attorney. Albright said there already was an assistant county attorney, but an additional assistant, which will be a half-time position with full-time benefits, was added to the 2015 budget. Originally, the position was to be full-time, but due to lack of interest, it was changed to part-time. Albright said the wages are set by the commissioners.

"Do you feel like you're having a problem finding, attracting good qualified people to the job?" Schick asked.

The three county commissioners began to answer at the same time.

"That's the reason why I'm here today," Schick said. "We're not having the expediency we should have over at the county attorney's office. And this is not something because we have changed county attorneys. This has been ongoing, but I don't think it should continue that way. I think the commissioners need to address the wage situation over there. I think the people over there care about their job. I think it's hard to get a good qualified county attorney over there. You're going to need to pay more money."

The lead assistant county attorney's salary will be between $36,000 and $46,000, depending on experience. The part-time assistant county attorney's position was offered at a salary of between $34,000 and $36,000.

A clarification on the county attorney's salary was unavailable Monday due to the holiday.

Schick said the amount of wages is affecting people like himself who are the victims of crimes.

"For example, I have several pending where people have broken into my business four and five times and they're still out wandering the streets and we're waiting on warrants to arrest them," Schick said. "And we've got basically an open and shut case, but we can't get anybody to review the file. It's bad now. It's been bad for a long time and I've got to tell you, it's having a direct affect on me and I'm sure a lot of other people."

He said on Thursday he discovered a house he had paid someone to wire had been burglarized. He said within the past week, someone broke in and started stripping out the wiring in the house.

"I report suspicious activity all the time to the police," Schick said. "I believe we know who it is. It's the same people who have been in jail, or released on bond, and who have a good case pending that's sitting over there at the county attorney's office and nobody's looking at it. I've checked on it for months, and I'm telling you, I'm very frustrated -- as you can probably tell -- because these same people are doing it not only to me and but to a lot of other people because these specific people I'm talking about have already been brought to court and are out on bond waiting to go to trial."

He said he has spoken to someone in the county attorney's office who told him the office has cases that have been waiting for five years to be reviewed.

"Five years, that no ones looked at them yet -- criminal damage, theft, burglaries -- that there's a case waiting to be prosecuted," Schick said. "I think that's negligence, to be honest with you. Five years? I was complaining because mine's been six months. I think we need to do something about it."

He said he would be in favor of paying more taxes so the county attorney can be paid more. He later said the problem is not that the county attorney's office doesn't have quality people, but the county might be able to attract more motivated people if the salaries are higher.

He said he understands it takes time for a case to be resolved and it takes times for the police department to complete reports. He also said he understand cases involving bodily harm or abuse have priority. He said he thinks the police department and Bourbon County Sheriff's Office have done a good job.

"They're (county attorney's office staff) telling me right now it will be at least a couple more months before they even look at this case," Schick said.

He urged the commissioners to do something now instead of waiting two or three months and make the issue as high a priority as the jail.

Later, when Meeks met with commissioners, he agreed the salaries are low.

"We are very non-competitive," Meeks said. "We are too low."

He said there had been only three applications for the county attorney's position.

He also agreed the office is "bogged down" in case work.

"But with the additional staff, we should get caught up," he said.

He said a part-time assistant county attorney was being hired Friday and the county is presently advertising for a full-time assistant county attorney.

Meeks said he received a letter from the governor's office finalizing his appointment as county attorney. However, the letter erroneously stated he is now the interim county treasurer.

On Feb. 5, the Bourbon County Republicans unanimously voted to appoint Meeks as the interim county attorney following the resignation of Terri Johnson, who was sworn in as a Sixth Judicial District judge on Feb. 6. Meeks had replaced Valorie LeBlanc as the assistant county attorney in October. LeBlanc was sworn in as Sixth Judicial District Magistrate judge in September.

Other business

The commissioners voted to waive out-of-county fees for a contractor who is demolishing buildings for the city. Randy Vilela, whose company is based in Crawford County, said he is being charged more at the landfill for construction and demolition materials.

Vilela said he has a signed contract with the city.

Vilela said the county has been charging his company $30 per ton. The in-county rate is $22.50 per ton, he said.

"We're not bringing out-of-county trash to Fort Scott," Vilela said.

"It's based off the tag on the vehicle," Public Works Director Jim Harris said. "Which, his vehicle is out of county, so we charge the higher rates, but commissioners can make exception to that."

First District Commissioner Lynne Oharah asked if the rate is based on what's coming from another county, or simply the license plate on the vehicle delivering the material.

"We don't have anybody policing that," Harris said. "I know Randy is an honest Joe, but the next one might not be."

He said he has not seen anything in writing directing landfill staff to base rates on the vehicle license plates.

"That's just what they use for rule of thumb," Albright said. "I think when they're doing something for in the county, it should be considered in-county (rates)."

Schick, who also does demolition work, agreed.

"You can't prevent every possible scenario," Schick said. "It's just reasonable what he's asking to have done. I'm just thinking if you want competitive bidding and you want to save the city and county money, then you need to act accordingly."

Commissioners agreed this is the first they've been asked to consider an exception, even after all the C&D work done following the April 2013 hailstorm. Albright asked if Bourbon County's fees are lower than surrounding areas.

Vilela said it is not. His company, which has been in business for more than 40 years, owned its own landfill for a time.

Commissioners voted to waive fees for contractors that have documentation showing they are working in the city or county.

Vilela also asked commissioners to allow the waiver to be retroactive, as he had been charged the higher rate earlier in the week. Later, the commissioners voted in agreement of his request, but for that week only.

* Harris presented commissioners with a list of equipment on an online auction service. The equipment includes a 1995 Etnyre K chip spreader; a 1987 International oil distributor truck; and two 5-foot side mount mowers. Harris hopes to make enough money from the sales to purchase a newer chip spreader. He said he has located one in Illinois for $35,000.

* Bids were approved bids for chemicals. Harris recommended taking the best bid for the individual products. Red River won the bid for 50 gallons of Low Drift at a total cost of $1,502.50; Van Diest won the bid for 100 gallons of 2-4D for a total of $1,167; and CPS won the bid for 300 gallons of Glyphosate (Roundup), 300 gallons of Remedy and 300 gallons of Pastureguard for a total of $44,688.

* Commissioners will hold an end-of-the-year budget workshop at 9 a.m. today. A second workshop to discuss repairs at Elm Creek Lake will be held at 9 a.m. Thursday.

* Meeks reported a survey has been completed to determine the number of acres at the former Wade Aluminum site and an adjoining property. In December, commissioners reported they were approached by Leon Hester who expressed an interest in buying the property.

Meeks said he met with Hester regarding the agreement to purchase. Meeks presented commissioners with an agreement that will be signed when they meet Friday, Feb. 20.

In the agreement, the county will assist with moving dirt at the site. Hester will not be allowed to bury or dispose of any refuse on the site. Meeks said he will be allowed to store or park his equipment at the site.

"This is a benefit to the county," Meeks said. "I don't think there's going to be a lot of cost for the county, but it's a heck of a lot better than half a million to $600,000 that it would cost to fix it up. Even if it's $20,000 or $30,000 or $40,000, it's a lot better."

He said Hester should be able to begin implementing his plan for the property in March. He said the transaction will be good for the county, as it brings another business to the county and saves tax dollars on cleaning the ground.

* Meeks also reported on a property transaction with Wall Street Properties. The county had agreed to sell 23.8 acres between U.S. 54 and Noble Road, which at one time had been a landfill. The city owns about a third of the old landfill, while the county owns the remainder and holds a water testing permit.

Charles Bowers met with commissioners in January and said according to a state statute, land that was used as a landfill may not be divided. He recommended the properties be rejoined.

Meeks said he met with city officials, who said the city does not want the county's property. Meeks advised against the county taking the city's parcel.

Meeks said after speaking with City Manager Dave Martin, he understands Wall Street Properties is no longer interested in either property.

"If that is the case, we don't have to worry about KDHE because it will just stay the way it is," Meeks said. "I have not been informed by the group, but I have a very strong hunch we're not going to be getting rid of that land."

* Meeks presented the commissioners with a resolution to establish Gilbert E. Gregory as the conflict attorney if there are any attorney conflicts regarding tax sale foreclosures handled by Dan Meara. Meeks said there are about 25 properties that would present an attorney conflict with Meara.

* Meeks said the city will approach the county to formally request a new road be constructed at the Fort Scott Industrial Park to accommodate traffic at the LaRoche Baseball Complex. Commissioners asked what type of agreement is already in place regarding the county's responsibility for existing roads at the park.

"I believe it comes back from a gentleman's agreement from a long time ago," Meeks said. "I believe the city and county are very interested in helping those roads and I think that agreement is still going to be in place."

Meeks recommended the county and city sign a letter of intent on the maintenance for the roads.

While Adam LaRoche is funding the construction of the baseball complex, the facility will be turned over to the city and USD 234 to operate and maintain. A portion of the industrial park has been annexed by the city, according to a map provided by the Bourbon County Appraiser's Office, but the area where the baseball complex is being built doesn't appear to have been annexed yet.