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When is a County Attorney not a County Attorney?

Apparently, in Franklin County, the answer is "most of the time". Louisburg attorney Darnell Batton, of the Batton & Guin law firm, was the official "County Attorney" for 15 years. Mr. Batton tendered his regignation from the post in December of 2007 saying that the workload had become impossible to juggle between the county's demands and the demands of clients in his private practice.

County Finance Director Chuck Murray indicated that, at that time, Batton was responsible for $196,000 of the county's yearly legal budget - roughly 84% of the county's total yearly legal budget. Batton indicated that the county really needed to have a full-time attorney and both Commissioner McGhee-Young and County Manager Coudriet agreed. McGhee-Young indicated that she felt the county could hire a full-time attorney for what they were spending on legal fees. In another interview, McGhee-Young stated "I think we need a full-time attorney to teach our department heads how to be proactive about situations and (avoid legal trouble)," noting that Batton, as a part-time, contracted attorney is often not available to the county on Mondays and Tuesday's - heavy court days. and went on to indicate that "Our department heads need (full-time) service and deserve this service." Chris Coudriet, who was County Manager at the time, said "We're at the point, though where we need full-time representation. There's plenty to do" and added that "The person who is hired will go home tired every day."

That was all 20 months ago and we're still paying Mr. Batton $125/hour for his services and still don't have a full-time County Attorney on staff. Why is this the case when Batton himself indicated that the workload was too much for him, that he wanted to focus more on his private practice, and that he felt he was spread too thin?

County Manager Angela Harris has indicated to me that the county has been unable to find an attorney to replace Mr. Batton but she has yet to answer numerous questions I've asked regarding the search. According to Ms. Harris, no one who is qualified to do the job will work for what the County wants to pay. I find it hard to believe that, in the current economy, there isn't a single attorney in this region with experience in government law who will accept roughly $200,000 per year plus benefits.

(source: The Franklin Times, 12/14/2007, 12/25/2007, and 2/1/2008)