Floyd County Supervisors likely to pick Charles City attorney Prichard for part-time county attorney position

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Floyd County will change from a full-time county attorney position to a part-time county attorney, and likely appoint Charles City resident Todd Prichard to fill that spot, if the county Board of Supervisors continues on the path it charted Monday.

A special meeting was called for 9 a.m. Wednesday to pass a resolution to change the county attorney position from full time to part time, and to appoint a person to that position.

The decision to change to a part-time county attorney was driven more by the person the supervisors want for the job, rather than their own thoughts that the position should be changed, and two of the supervisors expressed reservations about the change to part time.

The supervisors are looking to fill the office that is now vacant after previous County Attorney Rachel Ginbey resigned effective March 13 to take the same position for Hancock County.

Three applicants applied for the opening, including the current assistant county attorney, Randall Tilton, and Brandon Moe, an assistant county attorney in Cerro Gordo County. Both those candidates said the county attorney position should be full time.

The third candidate, Prichard, applied for the position as a part-time job. The long-time Charles City attorney, former Iowa legislator, and Army colonel (currently serving in the Army Reserve) said he had previously served as a part-time assistant county attorney under Normand Klemesrud from 2010 to 2014, and Klemesrud was also a part-time county attorney.

“This does not mean that I would only dedicate a predetermined amount of hours to the job,” he said in his application letter. “I will dedicate the hours necessary to successfully meet the requirements of the office.

“Specifically, serving part-time means that I would maintain a limited private practice while dedicating the necessary hours to the Floyd County attorney’s office, whatever that may be. This would entail regular office hours at the courthouse and keeping a dedicated schedule to cover scheduled court days. Further, it would ensure that I was available by phone or email on a 24-hour, 7-days a week basis. Having worked in the office before, I know the importance of being available when needed,” he wrote.

During his interview with the supervisors Monday morning, Prichard said he would give up practicing family law and do mostly probate and business law in his private practice – two areas that are more easily worked into a schedule.

Prichard told that board that many if not most counties in this region of the state have part-time county attorneys.

“Maintaining the county attorney’s position as a part-time position would be more cost effective for the county without sacrificing the time required to effectively represent the county,” Prichard said.

Current Assistant County Attorney Tilton during his interview expressed concern that the office is understaffed with a full-time county attorney and a full-time assistant attorney.

He said Ginbey had been requesting an additional assistant county attorney for years until finally giving up after being told the money wasn’t in the budget.

When asked about his accomplishments as assistant county attorney, Tilton pointed to his work in criminal cases, but said he would not claim work on civil matters as an accomplishment, because those matters had been pushed aside by the time requirements for criminal prosecution.

“The duties of the county attorney are spelled out by the Iowa Code, it’s Chapter 331.756. The first six of those duties are either directly or related to the prosecution of crimes. It’s not until you get down to No. 7, which is the representation of county officials in actions such as legal actions, and then No. 8, which would be the giving of advice, say to this board or other boards, elected officials or department heads in the county,” he said.

“We have been running in regard to that situation understaffed,” he said.

The third candidate, Moe, applied for the position as full-time, but when asked about staffing he said he wasn’t sure why the Floyd County office currently had two full-time prosecutors – a full-time county attorney and full-time assistant – and said he’d have to look at the caseload if he was appointed to see if a full-time county attorney and a part-time assistant could do the job.

Supervisor Chair Mark Kuhn asked Prichard what conflicts might arise with the position of county attorney if he also had private clients.

Prichard said conflicts can always arise in a small community. Even full-time county attorneys have people they know or do business with or who are neighbors. If there’s a concern about a potential conflict of interest they ask a neighboring county attorney to step in on that case, and he would help out other counties in similar situations.

All three interviews as well as the discussion by the supervisors on their thoughts about the candidates were done in open meeting.

Prichard was the clear choice of Supervisor Chair Mark Kuhn, who said he knew him personally and professionally.

Kuhn said he was concerned about lack of follow-through on some civil matters from the County Attorney’s Office.

“You can’t just say, ‘I don’t have time,’” he said. “I think we’d be better served with the services of Mr. Prichard.”

The other supervisors, Dennis Keifer and Jim Jorgensen, also clearly favored Prichard of the three candidates they interviewed Monday, but both also expressed doubt about the change in job classification.

“Todd interviewed very well, but I question if we want to go to part time,” said Supervisor Jim Jorgensen.

Supervisor Dennis Keifer said, “I agree Mr. Prichard interviewed very well. Maybe we need to let him prove to us that he can do it on a part-time basis.”

Jorgensen said, “I think Mr. Prichard would be the best fit for what the county wants to happen. I’m still a little skeptical on part time, but like Dennis said, let him prove it.”

The supervisors noted that the appointment would only serve until the next general election, in November 2024, at which time the appointee could run for election to the remaining two years in the term.

County Auditor Gloria Carr said that if the board is considering that they might want to change back to a full-time position if it isn’t working out part-time, that decision would have to be made before the election cycle begins in March 2024, because candidates have to know what kind of position they are running for.

At the special meeting Wednesday morning the supervisors are expected to pass a resolution changing the position of county attorney from full time to part time. That resolution also needs to include the salary for the position.

Kuhn said he likes the idea of bringing Prichard back to that meeting and having an open discussion regarding the salary and the budget for the office. The board intends to make an appointment at the meeting if they can come to an agreement with Prichard.