Prosecutor/Law Director charter amendment

A county assistant law director said the draft amendment still leaves ambiguity about who handles key legal work and urged council to get it right before sending it to voters.

A law department attorney warned the draft language does not adequately preserve employment-law work for the county law department.

The law department's chief contracts counsel, speaking personally, asked council to vote no, saying the substitute doesn't actually protect law department attorneys' jobs.

A longtime law department attorney said the amendment, as drafted, fails to end the prosecutor/law director turf dispute and singled out subsection D as the biggest problem.

A council staff member who took part in the negotiations warned that passing the amendment over the law department's objections could drive talented attorneys out of county service.