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ESCANABA -- The Delta County Board of Commissioners continued the discussion on what role -- if any -- the Delta County Prosecutor's Office should have in providing legal counsel to the board and county employees during their regular meeting Tuesday.
The discussion Tuesday, which dominated the commissioner's workshop portion of the meeting, is part of a lengthy and sometimes-heated debate among the commissioners, the prosecutor's office and the general public about the county's legal counsel.
The prosecutor's office has been the county's legal counsel for about seven years, without any major concerns being noted by either the prosecutor's office or the commission. According to Prosecutor Lauren Wickman, the only real issue was a case last year involving elections, which required outside counsel due to a conflict of interest.
The issue of using outside counsel on a regular basis, however, first arose early this year when, at the recommendation of Board Chair Dave Moyle, the commission began seeking an outside attorney to represent the county. The only attorney to submit a proposal for the position was Scott Graham, who Moyle said he had asked to apply for the position. At the time, Moyle also said Graham had represented him previously, but he has since stated repeatedly that he was not Graham's client.
"The 14th of June, 2022, was the first time I had seen Scott Graham and the first time I had met Scott Graham. He represented, at that point, my wife. We were going to be divorced a month and a half later, and I was so impressed by watching how he operated in court, I wanted that for the peoples of the county," Moyle said Tuesday.
Graham was hired by the board in early May, prompting questions about the role he would play given the county's existing agreement with the prosecutor's office. In early September, the board voted that County Administrator Ashleigh Young should consult Wickman first; then the Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority (MMRMA), which is primarily an insurance provider with on-staff legal counsel; and finally Graham.
Two weeks after setting the order, Moyle suggested a change reversing the order, placing Graham first and Wickman last. The change was approved in a 3-2 split vote with Commissioners John Malnar and Steve Viau voting to keep the order as it was. Both Malnar and Viau continued to support the original order Tuesday.
"We did change directions. I accept responsibility for that. We were going east and then we turned and we went west. I can see where our prosecutor would have been irritated by that," said Moyle.
Wickman presented the commission with two options Tuesday: use the prosecutor's office as its primary source of legal counsel and only use outside attorneys on a case by case basis, or use an outside attorney in all cases and end the relationship between the county and the prosecutor's office for legal services.
"From there, it would be determining … what, if any, coverage would still be utilized from MMRMA. In that instance, our office could not be involved, considering those statutes that I've highlighted on a couple of occasions," she said.
Losing in-house legal services could create delays -- and potentially, added costs -- for the county, as department heads frequently use the prosecutor's office to handle day-to-day issues and answer questions.
"I want the best of both worlds, too. At least in my mind, the day-to-day stuff would go to Lauren. The bigger issues that we felt that we wanted outside counsel, we would use Attorney Graham. It's a matter of working out how that all fits together," said Commissioner Bob Petersen, who had initially voted in support of reversing the order of legal counsel.
Wickman has repeatedly told the commission that ending her services must be done as a legislative action by the commission with a reason for the action placed on the record. The board can choose to end her services entirely, or take her off an issue on a case-by-case basis. If she were to remain the primary counsel for the county, a case could be given to Graham if the board felt there was cause to give him the case.
"The Supreme Court looked at that you're basically taking a power way from my office, a power from the prosecutor's office. So in order to take a way a power, you have to go through a legislative process on that," said Wickman.
Petersen suggested that Wickman contact Graham directly to work out an arrangement where the two attorneys could both represent the county, with Graham providing services for larger issues, like a planned discussion about ending county-level zoning that has been on the back-burner for the commission since late last year.
A related agenda item, which would have increased the county's stipend to the prosecutor for providing legal counsel from $6,000 to $12,000 was tabled until Wickman and Graham can communicate. If the commission decides to end its arrangement with Wickman, no stipend will be paid to her office.