5.1. SR 05-10-2004*Item 5. I.*
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Mayor and City Council
FROM:
Chris Johnson, City Attorney
DATE: May I 0, 2004
SUBJECT: Request to Hire Law Clerk
In order for our office to continue to move towards the City's ultimate goal of having the
majority of the legal services performed by in-house counsel, we need additional staff. I
recommend that we hire a law clerk. There is a federal work study program through
William Mitchell College of Law that would allow us to hire a law student to work 20
hours per week in our office. Seventy-five percent of the salary would be paid by grant
money through William Mitchell. We would be responsible for the remaining twenty-
five percent. I'm estimating that cost to be approximately $4,000. We have a forfeiture
account in our office with revenues that we have generated through the handling of
forfeiture cases. I've talked to Lori Johnson and she said we can use the money from the
forfeiture account to pay the balance of the salary. I've talked to Pat Klaers about this
program and he thinks it's a great idea. We do need additional staff. We now have
adequate office space to add additional staff. I don't anticipate any additional expenses
associated with hiring a law clerk. I'd like to have someone start as soon as possible but
that will depend on the availability of a qualified candidate.
Action Requested
The City Council is asked to authorize the hiring of a part time law clerk to work 20 hours
per week.
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