12-16-1996 - Laserfiche WebLink

14. 15. Commission Minutes--December 16, 1996 1559 years 1994, 1995 and 1996 in the amount of $85,900 for 1994; $88,500 for 1995; and $92,900 for 1996, according to notices from the county auditor to Red River Reformed Church and to Classis of Dakota. On roll call vote, motion carried unanimously. SCHOOL BUS ORDINANCE, First reading held First reading was held on proposed ordinances #1996-2 and #1996-3 entitled, "AN ORDINANCE PROHIBITING THE DISOBEDIENCE OF SCHOOL BUS TRAFFIC CONTROL SIGNALS RELATING TO THE GENERAL RULES OF THE ROAD" as drafted by the State's Attorney, John Goff. A summary of the ordinances will be published in the County's official newspaper, The Forum, at least 20 days prior to the second reading, according to Chairman Toussaint, who then asked for any comments from Commissioners or the public. None were received. STATE'S ATTORNEY, Letter on Commission recommendations and Commission reply Mrs. Toussaint asked for an update from Mrs. Schneider regarding the State's Attorney's Office since she was appointed by the Chair to serve on a hiring committee to interview applicants for an administrative assistant position to the State's Attorney. Mrs. Schneider said she spoke briefly to Mr. Goff, and he responded in writing to the Board with his recommendation dated December 6, 1996. Attorney Robert Feder addressed the Commission at this time on behalf of Mr. Goff. He said the Commission's concerns have not gone unnoticed or been ignored by the State's Attorney's Office, not only on behalf of John Goff, but everyone in the office who attended the staff meetings that have been held recently. At a minimum, Mr. Feder said the State's Attorney's office needs two additional legal secretaries, one file clerk and possibly an additional attorney in order to operate efficiently. He questioned if the Commission intends to fund these additional positions, otherwise their efforts at restructuring the office would be in vain, he said. Mr. Feder provided copies to Commissioners of an office reorganization schedule prepared by Assistant State's Attorney, Alan Dohrmann. Course of Action #2, on page 3 of the hand-out, is believed to be the most efficient plan, according to Mr. Feder, and includes the following: appoint two deputy state's attorneys to head functional areas, appoint one office manager from existing staff, hire entry level staff attorney, hire two legal secretaries and a file clerk, group staff into functional area teams and provide monthly reports to the Commission. Mr. Feder asked the Commission to fund, at a minimum, the two legal secretaries and a file clerk. Mr. Ness asked if Mr. Feder believes the only problem is a lack of money; and Mr. Feder responded that is not the case, however, funding these positions would be the first step in addressing the problems and letting the staff do the work they were hired to do. According to Scott Kildahl's management report, which the Commission received on November 18, 1996, Mr. Ness said the assumption was made that the caseload in the State's Attorney's Office has tripled since 1990. In a memo to Commissioners dated December 13, 1996, Mrs. Toussaint quoted case counts obtained from the Data Processing Department showing that the number of cases has not increased to the extent reported in Mr. Kildahl's report. Previously, a different method of calculation was used to figure the number of cases, therefore, the caseload has not increased as dramatically as first thought. Mrs. Toussaint indicated in the memo that staff in the State's Attorney's Office has increased by 50% since 1990, during which time the caseload has increased about 38%.