Van Hollen says county boards can hire independent counsel

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County boards have the authority to authorized and approve contracts for attorneys who act independently of the corporation counsel, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said Tuesday.

Van Hollen issued the formal opinion in response to a request from Brown County Corporation Counsel Juliana Ruenzel. Her request, which she said is not tied to any imminent litigation, followed up on an initial request by her predecessor, John Luetscher.

As Van Hollen notes in his opinion, “the Legislature left the determination of how to meet a county’s needs for civil legal services to the county board.”

He concludes, “the county board may retain the services of a private attorney to provide legal services in civil matters to the county board and human resources department.”

Van Hollen also determined that the county board establishes the parameters of such contracts and that the county executive negotiates and administers such contracts and supervises attorneys retained under such contracts.