5.1. SR 05-21-2007
Item # 5.1.
City of
Elk ~
River- .
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Mayor and City Council
FROM:
Lori Johnson, City Administrator
DATE:
May 21,2007
SUBJECT:
Prosecuting Services Update - William Hawkins & Associates
On January 22, 2007, the city entered into an agreement for legal services (prosecuting) with
William J. Hawkins & Associates. Mr. Bill Hawkins, Mr. Scott Baumgartner, and their newly
hired attorney, Mr. David Fischer, will be at Monday night's meeting to meet the Council
and to give a brief update on their fIrst few months of service.
As you know, when we discussed changing to a contracted prosecuting attorney, one of our
concerns was the time that the attorneys would spend here because of the court calendaring
system. Mr. Hawkins has been working closely with court adininistration, the Sherburne
County Attorney's offlce, and the judges to make adjustments to the calendaring system so
that Elk River's cases can be handled in a more efflcient and effective way. Although this
process takes time, it has gone very well and all parties involved have been cooperative in
making changes of mutual benefIt. Because these changes were not implemented initially
when the contract started, the first few bills from Hawkins and Associates were high, as we
expected. We expect the monthly cost to decrease as the calendaring system becomes more
reflned. We knew going into the contract that this transition would take some time, and at
this point, it appears that it is going very smoothly.
In addition, the attorneys have had several jury trials; to my knowledge, we did not have any
jury trials the entire time the city did its own prosecuting. This causes an increase in fees,
but defmitely sends the message that offenders will be held accountable for their actions.
The police department has been pleased with the way all three attorneys have handled the
city's cases and in the results of the jury trials, which were all in favor of the city.
As Chief Beahen and I stated during the annual report presentation, we feel this transition to
contractual prosecuting services has gone very well. The police offIcers are pleased with the
interactions that they have had with the attorneys and the training they have received from
the attorneys. We have also heard positive comments from the court system. Of course, we
will continue to evaluate these services on an on-going basis to ensure that they continue to
meet the city's needs.
S:\Council\Lori\2007\Prosecuting Services Update. doc