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Home My WebLink AboutFY 2018 Budget Presentation (Office of the County Attorney)RECEIVED COUNTY OF KAUA'I •17 HAR 20 Pl2 :59 OFFICE OF THE COUNTY ATTORNEY 2018 Budget Presentation Mauna Kea Trask County Attorney Matthew M. Bracken First Deputy County Attorney -- Growing Kaua'i responsibly. OFFICE OF THE COUNTY ATTORNEY I. Mission Statement The mission statement for the Office of the County Attorney ("Office") is "to diligently render proficient legal services ethically and honorably; and to act as an advisor and advocate to the various county entities which comprise the County of Kaua'i on behalf of the people." II. Value Statement Keep calm and carry on . III. Fiscal Year 2017 Successes and Achievements The County Attorney's Office has realized numerous successes and achievements during fiscal year 2016-2017. The Advice & Counsel unit continues to provide all necessary legal advice and review to the following entities: the County Council, each councilmember, the Office of the County Clerk, the Office of the County Auditor, the Mayor, the Office of the Mayor, the ADA Coordinator, Life's Choices Kaua'i, Mayor's Advisory Committee for Equal Access (MACFEA), Public Information Office, Boards and Commissions, the Agency on Elderly Affairs, Civil Defense Agency, Finance Department, Procurement Division of the Finance Department, Economic Development, Fire Department, Housing Agency, Liquor Control, Parks & Recreation, Personnel Services, Planning Department, Police Department, Prosecuting Attorney, Public Works, Transportation Agency, and Water Department. Furthermore, the Advice & Counsel unit continues to provide essential legal guidance to avoid future litigation. Some of the successes and achievements of the Advice & Counsel Unit are: 1) Created an inter-office County Attorney Opinion Index 2) Drafted contract templates to standardize the following types of contracts and amendments: 1) goods; 2) goods (open ended); 3) services; 4) services (open ended); 5) professional services; 6) professional services amendment; 7) professional services (HRS 464 licensed design engineers, architects etc.); 8) professional services (464) amendments; 9) professional services legal; and 10) professional services legal amendments 3) Conducted training on using the contract templates and other contract drafting issues including tracking numbers, contract assignments, and insurance 4) Conducted training on the legal aspects of applying for, receiving, and expending grant funds 5) Maintaining the updated General Provisions for Construction Contracts and General Terms and Conditions for Goods and Services Contracts 6) Continued assistance to the Division of Purchasing, in its initiative to move the County towards greater use of electronic records and electronic signatures 7) Drafted the Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Public Access, Open Space Commission, and the Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Kauai Historic Preservation Review Commission 2018 Budget Presentation Page 1 8) Secured an Executive Order from State DLNR for the Kapa 'a Armory for use by the County at no cost 9) Drafted Resolution to give the Kapaia Community ownership over the Kapaia Swinging Bridge so that this important historical landmark can be effectively preserved 10) Drafted an ordinance to compassionately deal with homelessness on Kauai 11) Continued support of County efforts to site an Adolescent Drug Treatment Center on Kauai 12) Continued to spearhead programs that support the native Hawaiian community and protect the host culture , heritage and entitlements 13) Continued to advise on the Endangered Species Act and updated and submitted a revised Participant Inclusion Plan for the Kauai Seabird Habitat Conservation Plan 14) Continued to advise on Uniform Information Practices Act requests 15) Provided the Department of Finance assistance with developing an insurance worksheet and updating the standard insurance language that is attached to every County contract 16) Drafted easement and conveyance documents for the Rice Street and Kapa'a Bike Path projects The Litigation Un i t continues to manage the majority of the new litigation filed against the County , as well as filing necessary cases to protect the County's interests in all of the various judicial and quasi-judicial venues , including Federal District Court, State Circuit Court , State District Court , State and Federal Appellate courts , and the various administrative agencies. Cases filed by the County include small claims actions for damage to the County vehicles and collection of delinquent account receivables . The Litigation Unit's hard work and dedication continues to realize substantial savings in special counsel costs. In addition, this year our Office procured software designed for the legal field. The software allows us to increase the efficiency of our collection services by processing collection cases using staff expertise rather than attorney time. Going forward , the Office will be reorganizing by reclassifying two of our legal clerks to paralegal positions in order to increase our efficiency . Some of the successes and achievements of the Litigation Unit are: 1) Reduced reliance of special counsel 2) Handled all planning contested cases in house , and cancelled one of the remaining special counsel contracts 3) Closed 21 civil litigation cases , and 8 agency contested cases 4) Utilized time tracking software to work against the self-insurance retention limits of the County insurance policy During the last year we have welcomed three highly qualified attorneys to our staff. Each indi v idual has brought distinct strengths to our Office and this exceedingly capable group continues to work together cohesively. IV. 2017 Goals and Objectives Goal : Pro v ide timely competent legal ad v ice and representation to Will objectives be the Mayor , County Council , and to all Departments , Commissions , accomplished by Boards and Agencies. 6 /30 /2 017 ? 2018 Budget Presentation Page 2 Objective: Implementation of case management software We successfully renegotiated our legal research subscriptions and used the savings to procure case management software. The staff and attorneys are fully trained and all work assignments are processed through this software . This allows the Office to track assignments and create a database of all of the work produced. Litigation Unit and Advice & Counsel Unit assignments are available to all attorneys anytime and accessible remotely. An added benefit of accomplishing this objective was that the County Attorney's Office was able to obtain sixteen (16) laptops that are compatible with our Office 's network at no additional cost to the contract price and allow all deputies to work remotely with full access to their desktop. Yes Objective : Increased training for each attorney and the supporting Yes staff The staff has attended paralegal training courses with at least one more scheduled. The attorneys and staff have access to unlimited trainings through a new feature of the W estlaw Contract. Attorneys were also sent to the Municipal Attorneys Conference and the International Municipal Lawyers Association Conference. Both conferences provided invaluable resources and lectures on various areas of law. Objective: Utilize document generation software to increase Office Yes efficiency Document generation is being utilized in all collection cases. The following documents can be generated from the data entered into the case management software: initial demand letter , complaint , declaration to accompany the complaint, and a payment plan. The use of this technology will likely be expanded to claims as the Office becomes more familiar with the process . Objective : Continue to work with various County Departments to Yes pursue any and all moneys owed and due to the County The County Attorney's Office is currently working with Public Works Department, Housing Department, and Planning Department to collect delinquent account receivables . Our Office is currently focusing on delinquent sewer accounts exceeding $1 ,000 with 106 open matters. 2018 Budget Presentation Page 3 V. Challenges The Office's budget and workload is dependent on the actions or inactions of the County. Our Office forecasts litigation costs based on previous year expenses; however, litigation costs fluctuate depending on the nature of the cases the County is involved in and on the different stages of litigation. Our Office strives to keep costs down but we have little or no control over the actual costs of litigation . Furthermore, managing the County's corporate (non-litigation) workflow processing is dependent on the ability of our Advice & Counsel Unit diligently reviewing all legal matters that must go through our Office. In regard to the litigation process civil litigation cases can take several years to resolve. In today's litigious society, lawsuits are unfortunately common; as such, each attorney's caseload is increasing. As their caseloads increase there is a danger of overburdening our attorneys. The greatest challenge is ensuing that each litigation attorney has the necessary amount of time to devote to each case. It can take several months for an attorney to familiarize themselves with just one case and it's essential that we provide the support our attorneys need to maintain their high caseloads. In regard to the Advice & Counsel unit the guidance that the division provides is essential to County operations . With four attorneys advising the majority of the departments, these attorneys also have a very high caseload and their services are in high demand . This County cannot afford to have its legal team respond to non-legal or hypothetical legal inquiries. Historically many "legal" requests were departmental policy matters that were passed onto the County Attorney's Office. The Advice & Counsel unit's template and standardization initiatives as well as its focus on departmental training is our strategy to address this issue without asking for more money or personnel as the County Attorney's Office believes that the taxpayer's money should be conservatively and wisely utilized. The County Attorney's Office work load continues to increase in the future and case management and corporate workflow processing will always be a challenge for your County Attorney Office's staff and attorneys. VI. 2018 Goals and Objectives The Office's fundamental goal is to provide timely competent legal advice and representation to the Mayor, County Council, and to all Departments, Commissions, Boards and Agencies . All of the Office objectives are directed at increasing efficiency and time utilization . The Office's objectives are as follows: 1. Staff reorganization to provide cross-training 2. Continued use of technology to improve case management 3. Continued county wide standardization and training initiatives 2018 Budget Presentation Page 4 VII. Statistics The following statistics are used to keep track or our case load, howe v e r, the statistics fail to s ho w the depth of our qualitati v e work. All Open Cases and Assignments All Open M.itters for the 2017 f""6Qf YeM 0 Max Items: r 2o :~ Refresh lil oem i sc • 03 ,!!~ltl! 01 contr C ol 10da im Pee Agency h 02apln DO i nfo 08 m l sc 03 ag rte 0 1 cont r Col tl info p Ov Tota l ' 1407 S how D at a F ore All Open Matten for the 2017 fiKal Yeiir 0 Mu Item s: --f ci ~ Refresh Tob i: 1407 Show Chait Grou p Des cri p tion Count P ~rcentagt°' ~::=J~·1'SM.\\;ltiti i~rJ"J:RC---~ ..... -......._-""-...._- 03 AGREE Agreements 228 1 6!0 01 CO:'<TR Con tr a c t 209 15'; COL Collec ti on s 106 8% 11 Th"FOP Informal Opinion 99 7°'.. CIV Cii.il 79 6 % FORC F orclosur.e 62 -1-% TAX R e al P r op<rty Ta x Appe al 46 3°/o 10 CLID! Claims 44 3 % PCC Planning Conle 3 led Casto 39 3 % AGE\CYH Agency :Coouni3sionHear32 2 % 02 OPDJ Opinions 32 2~~ 00 Th'FO Info Only 19 1 % SUBPODiA Subpoena 18 l!o 1 5 PLCY Dtpt. Po u cy Re,·iew 18 1% 05 ORD Ordinanc e 1 2 l !o 04 DEEDS Deeds 1 2 I ~; !3 ROE Right of Entry 1 2 1% !7 AD~!Di Admini s tra ti on 9 1 % 2018 Budget Presentation Page 5 Current Open Ca s es and Assignments by Unit Advke & Counsel Bre.kdown !Open Mott•Bl 0 Max Items: ! ·-~~:-' R efres h m osm is ~. •D3 ?J go e e •Olco ;;tr 13 ro e Q 16 o i p 0 9 l'lJ l es C,l o 4 d eeds 0 1 7 1 dmin .D Hte m p l Mi s t. 08 m i sc 0 3 .!Qr e ~ O lco n t r 11 infop T ot.al: 432 S how D a ta 00 mfo lS p lcy Hi oip 09 rules 04 dee ds 1 7 adm in 1 9 tempi Mi!i c. Advice & Couru.el Bre.ik4own (Open Mdtters) 0 Ma x lt e m s: ~~'~ Gr oup Descrip ti o n Count P er c en tlg e ~-==:J ~B!i1D .::.:::::=Ji!i1L::_ :J[ Wl5 0 1 CO:O."TR Contract 77 19 % 0 3 AGREE Agreements 7 1 17 '}. II .C-.rOP Informal Opinion 49 12°, 1 5 PLC Y Dql t Po li cy R e,;ew 17 4 'C. 00 D<rO Info On l y 1 7 4!'. Su'BPOE:<A Subpoena 12 3 % 02 OPIN Opinions 12 3 % !6 O!P OIP 7 2~'. 05 ORD Ordinance 6 I ~• 13 ROE Ri•ht of Entrv 6 I '° 1 9 TE.IPL Te';npw es ,D;a fung form 15 1 •.; 17 ADMIN Administra ti on 5 I % 09 R L'L ES Ruies 5 l !i 04 DEEDS De e d s I !; TRA~ 1 ~~ 20 DO\\' 22 RE.~ Am i 1 % 0 % ~· Tota l : 41S Show Ch~•I ~tton Bre...salown {Open "1.itten) 0 Max Items: ~. ~·~· ! A ehei h g cor:~8o/,. .0 ... :20 ~» 0 Fo rc :l5 % 0 Tu :12% • Pee: lO'h •AgenCJh :8".~ • So bp oena: J•,; Eeot:2% -_cc:1% 100 " 60 ., 20 Ov 2018 Budget Presentation T-otal: 381 Show D ata Fl bJi! n i I i 1 I Fc r c T~le Pe e C c Page 6 lrtigation Breakdown {Open Matters) 0 Max It ems: \ 10 {' R efres h Tota l: 385 Show Ch a1 I Group D e s cription Count ,!er c -entl g e ~· ~_-:J~!!':fui ,::::....::.;:::~UiT:i~·"-'-~"'-"'·......_~<;""~~~.:.:....~..._-'-~.;;.......:..:. CI V Civil 79 2l ~o FORC Fo rcio s ur e 6.:! 16 •fo TA ,"'\ Real Property Tax Ap pe al 46 12 % PCC PLlnning Con tes ted Ca s e 3 9 1 0% AG ENC Y H Agrocy 1 Conunl ss i on H ear 3 2 8 % SUBPOENA Subp o ena 12 3 ~o EEOC EEOC HCRC 7 2% CC Cont este d C ase 2 l ~D Current Closed Cases and Assignments by division 07 1 01116-1/31/17 A<Mc .. ndCoumdOmed M.otters 0 Max I tems: -l ~'S fW!nb •08rn i sc28 1 b • 03 ag ree: 2ec1~ E m pty : 1% OS o rd : 1 %. (]06 r eso : 1 ~'.. ,._ 13 roe: 1 1/.. ..., 1 7admin: !";;. Su bp o:na: 1 % D 18counc:1•1:: 0 09ru l e~:D% U 2Gdow:O% M i sc.:2 % !J . ,., •. ;I 03 m l sc 0 3 <1 9 r ee 01 cont r 11 i nfop 02 op i n 04 de e d!; E mp t>1 US ord 06 rese: 13 ro~ Tofil!: 554 Sh o w D ah1 - ! :;; u r -:,:1 ~ _L, 17 :t d m i n Subpoe n a 18 co u nc 09 ru l es 20 de w M i sc. lltigaUon Clo...t U= 0 M ax I te ms: •c r v:4J "h g forc22~ 0 Pcc:81',;, D Subpoem!: 3Y : • Eeoc:6% •),g e ncyh:6'% •col:4 o/, D Cc.:2~h 2018 Budget Presentation Tobi : 4 9 Sho w Da t a '" Page 7 Miscellaneous documents (revocable permits , waiver and indemnity agreements, permits, right of-entry documents , releases , leases , concession agreements, charter of incorporation and by-laws , legislati ve bills) VI. Budget Overview Salary and Wages Benefits Utilities Vehicle/Equip, Lease Operations FY 2017 FY 2018 $+I - 1,411,267 1,422,762 11,495 669,365 794,937 125,572 5,000 5,000 0 0 0 0 533,548 533,548 Q 2,619,180 2,756,247 137,067 FY 2017 Operating Budget •Salary and Wages •Benefits r: Utilities Vehicle/Equip, Lease • Operations FY 2018 Operating Budget •Salary and Wages •Benefits Utilities Vehicle/Equ ip, Lease 0 /o + / - 0.8% 18.8% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 5.2% 2018 Budget Presentation Page 8 FY 2017 and FY 2018 Comparison 1,600,000 1,400,000 1,200,000 1,000,000 800,000 600,000 400,000 200,000 0 Salary and Wages VIII. Budget Discussion ,__ ______ , ________ _ Benefits Utilities Vehicle/Equip, Operations Lease FY 2017 FY 2018 There have been no substantial changes to our Office's budget from the past fiscal year. The Dues and Subscriptions account was increased in consideration of the five percent increase in cost incorporated into the Westlaw contract. The funds required to pay for this increase were taken from the training and repair and maintenance of equipment accounts . Our Office 's operating budget is relatively small. The two largest accounts aside from Special Counsel are Dues and Subscriptions and Litigation Costs. The Dues and Subscription account covers our research and organization tools. These resources are used to provide legal advice ne~essary for daily operations and to represent and defend the County . The law is not static. It changes with every State and Federal legislative session and with every new State and Federal appellate opinion. Our Office can only provide legal guidance if we have access to necessary updated legal resources . The Litigation Costs are driven by the number of cases, the kinds of cases, and the activity in the cases. These costs include : deposition costs, filing fees, process server fees , and expert witness costs . The Litigation Costs will likely fluctuate based on the number of active litigation cases, which is beyond the control of our Office. This year's budgetary request is a good faith estimate based on our current expenses and the current active cases, with the caveat that it is only an estimate. The Advice & Counsel Unit has focused on rendering well-reasoned and pragmatic advice to the entire County , which has resulted in an unquantifiable but recognized savings in the form of avoiding expensive litigation and other adversarial actions . The Advice & Counsel Unit has also begun the monumental task of updating and standardizing County contract forms . The ultimate goal is to allow 2018 Budget Presentation Page 9 the departments to better negotiate with private contractors and to save time and money by expediting revie w . This will benefit the individual departments , our Office , and the Department of Finance (who along with our Office must process all County contracts). Administrative and Legislative support of not only the County Attorney's Office but also of the Human Resources Department and the Department of Finance is necessary in order to continue to provide our community with a high level of service with the resources at our disposal. Finally, each individual department must continue to strive to improve their own operations including but not limited to contract management, personnel management, and achieving their goals in order for our Office not only to better serve their purposes individually but to serve the County as a whole . 2018 Budget Presentation Page 10