HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/06/2023 4E
AGENDA BILL
CITY OF BREMERTON
4E
CITY COUNCIL
SUBJECT:Study SessionDate: N/A
Approval of Prosecuting Attorney and COUNCIL MEETING Date: December 6, 2023
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Retention
Department: City
Pay Incentive Agreements
Presenter: Kylie Finnell
Phone: (360) 473-2345
SUMMARY:
I am asking the City Council to authorize$15,000inretention payto the Prosecuting Attorney pursuant
to a three-year contract and $15,000inretention pay to the Assistant Prosecuting Attorneypursuant
to a three-year contractasincentivesto retainemployeesin these critical and difficult to fill positions
that have labor market shortagesand for which vacancies will impair the delivery of essential services.
Critical positions
-the Prosecuting Attorney, and the
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney. These positions are in the management and professional employee
group and are not represented by a collective bargaining unit. These two positions are responsible for
maintaining around the clock division operations which include prosecuting criminal cases in
Bremerton Municipal Court, weekend probable cause duty, and being on call 24/7 for law enforcement
assistance regarding search warrants. Previously, the City could potentially rely on the County as a
safety net for prosecution through an Interlocal Agreement, however, now the County is facing lawyer
shortages and is not able to assist the City.
Difficult to fill positions / Labor market shortages
Kitsap County currently has 7 open positions for lawyers 5 in the Kitsap County Prosecuting
,if any,qualified
applicants for these positions and the positions are staying vacant. For historical context, the Kitsap
County Prosecuting Attorney advised me that in the past they would rarely have more than one open
attorney position at a time and when they had open positions, they would receive dozens of qualified
applicants
attorney staffing levels, and both the City and County have struggled to maintain adequate numbers
of attorneys on their rostersof conflict public defense counsel.
This difficulty is not limited to Kitsap County and jurisdictions across the state and nation are struggling
to fill attorney positions in the criminal justice system. Regionally, the highest recruitment bonus I have
seen is $40,000,
Vacancies will impair the delivery of essential services
If the City does not have prosecuting attorneys, there will be no prosecution of misdemeanor and gross
misdemeanor crimes committed in Bremerton. However, jurisdictions with larger staffs like Kitsap
County can handle vacancies more easily than the City. Just one vacancy at the City is a 50%
reduction in prosecuting attorney staffing.
Additional considerations
To be clear, the factors detailed above prompted me to make this request of Council. However, the
impact the issues at the Bremerton Municipal Court have on retention for these positions,and would
have on recruitment for these positions,should not be ignored. There has been a lot of staff turnover
in the Bremerton Municipal Court and in the public defense attorneys that appear in the Bremerton
Municipal Court. These issues have been publicized by the media and are known in the legal
community.
Conclusion
Vacancies in our prosecuting attorney positions will be very difficult to fill and because our prosecuting
attorney department is small, the impact of vacancies is greater. Retention incentives will help ensure
continuity of essential services.
ATTACHMENTS:1) Retention Incentive Agreement for Prosecuting Attorney; 2)Retention Incentive
Agreement for Assistant Prosecuting Attorney
FISCAL IMPACTS(Include Budgeted Amount):The retention incentives (totaling $30,000) can be
paid from existing department budget.
NOTE ON PROCEDURE:In 2023 there is a scheduling anomaly at the end of November that results
in two back-to-back Councilmeetings without a study session in between. I discussed this agenda
item with Council President Coughlin and Public Safety Committee Chair Frey. We agreed this item
th
could be discussed at the Public Safety Committee meeting on December 5and placed on the agenda
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for Council action on December 6. This helps balance the agenda size of the December Council
meetings.
STUDY SESSIONACTION:Consent Agenda General Business Public Hearing
RECOMMENDED MOTION:
Move to approve theRetention Incentive Agreement for Prosecuting Attorney and Retention Incentive
Agreement for Assistant Prosecuting Attorney as presented;and authorize execution of the
agreements.
COUNCIL ACTION: Approve Deny Table Continue No Action
Form Updated 01/02/2018