WILLMAR -- For the sake of the safety of children, the Kandiyohi County Board of Commissioners agreed Tuesday to temporarily pay for attorneys for parents involved in child protection or parental rights termination cases.
In a sternly worded resolution, the commissioners said they would provide interim funding for three months and then conduct a review in September to decide whether or not to continue the "voluntary reimbursement of court-appointed attorneys."
"I think we have a problem here," said County Administrator Larry Kleindl. "The Legislature needs to realize they made a mistake."
In the 2008 legislative session, $3.8 million was cut from the public defenders' budget.
As a result, the State Board of Public Defense fired a number of public defenders.
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On July 8 public defenders stopped accepting cases of parents involved with "child in need of protection services," commonly referred to as CHIPS, or cases involving termination of parental rights.
That left no one but the county to pick up the costs for the unfunded, mandated legal representation, which Kandiyohi County Attorney Boyd Beccue estimated at $100,000 a year.
One complicated case could easily add another $20,000 to $30,000 onto the tab.
"The public should know what's being dumped back on the taxpayers," said Commissioner Richard Falk.
Board Chairman Richard Larson said there is nothing in the 2008 budget to pay for the unexpected costs the county is now expected to cover.
The situation has "left counties in a quandary," Beccue said.
He said three Minnesota counties have "flatly refused" to pay the costs.
The negative consequences of that, he said, are that cases could be dismissed and children could be put in danger.
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After consultation with judges and county personnel, it was agreed that the child protection system can't "function properly without the availability of court-appointed counsel for parents" in qualifying cases, according to the resolution.
The commissioners agreed to fund the program for three months to "prevent disruption of the child protection system" and to protect children.
The county will utilize local attorneys who are currently public defenders, or have served in that capacity in the past, and pay a rate of $75 an hour.
The resolution states the commissioners are not "conceding" that the county has a legal obligation or duty to fund the court-appointed attorneys but that it does have the legal authority to fund them on a discretionary basis.
Kleindl said when the state initially agreed to take over the court system, Kandiyohi County gave up local government aid and the state kept the court revenues. Now, counties are being asked to pay for public defenders in the child protection cases while under the constraints of the new 3.9 percent levy limits imposed by the Legislature this year.
In a later interview, Kleindl said he knows the issue won't be resolved in three months, but if the county simply agreed to pay the costs, there would be no incentive for the state to change.
Because the county "won't put kids in harm's way just to make a point," Kleindl said it was agreed to move ahead with temporary funding.
If changes aren't made, he said, the county may eventually say it's "not the responsibility of local taxpayers" to fund the program without state money.
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In other action Tuesday, the commissioners:
- Agreed to allow customers at the landfill and Public Health Department to make payments with credit or debit cards on a one-year trial basis. The transaction fees will be paid for by the county.
- Approved the acquisition of 3,000 feet of shoreline on Middle Lake, located between Norway Lake and Lake Andrew, by the state Department of Natural Resources. The commissioners urged the DNR not to stock the lake with fish in order to preserve it for duck habitat. Bruce Gilbertson, from the DNR, said that request would be taken into consideration.
- Heard reports about the Willmar Area Food Shelf and the Coalition for Healthy Adolescent Sexuality.
