Lorain County not paying court-appointed attorney bills on time, officials say

Court-appointed attorneys in Lorain County aren't being paid on time for their work, with the problem being blamed on an ongoing budget feud between county Auditor Craig Snodgrass and county commissioners. Multiple lawyers who take court appointments in the county told The Chronicle-Telegram that they aren't being promptly paid despite submitting their bills on time to the county. None were willing to comment publicly on the matter, but the complaint is one Lorain County Bar Association President Brandon Oliver has been hearing more frequently from more voices in his organization, he said Friday. Oliver said some members of his association haven't been paid for two months for court appointments they accepted. That could lead to them not being paid for all the work they billed or to the county having to pay when the state won't, he said. Oliver called it "collateral damage" from the ongoing money fight between Snodgrass and commissioners David Moore, Jeff Riddell and Marty Gallagher. Snodgrass, whose office pays the bills submitted by court-appointed attorneys in Lorain County, said budget cuts imposed by the commissioners this year have left him without enough staff to do the job. Commissioners "cut my budget by 43 percent. What did they expect?" he said Friday. The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to an attorney. When defendants can't afford an attorney, courts will appoint one. Lorain County doesn't have a public defender's office, though commissioners have started the process to study its formation. It would be staffed by taxpayer-funded public employees. But right now, court-appointed attorneys are needed. The state Public Defender's Office reimburses Lorain County a set percentage each year for court-appointed work, and what that doesn't cover is paid by the county. "Counties are responsible for paying attorneys and guardians ad litem for appointed counsel services," according to the Ohio Public Defender's Office. "The county auditor issues payment to the attorney or guardian ad litem after they have submitted the appropriate forms to the court, and the court has approved payment of requested fees and expenses. After paying these fees and expenses, the county may seek reimbursement of the same." Oliver said if those bills are late, the state Public Defender's Office will reimburse an even smaller percentage. He said it's a serious issue and topic of discussion among attorneys, including those who do criminal defense, guardianship, appeals, child support contempt cases and attorneys representing parents in Children Services cases like those he oversees as a Domestic Relations/Juvenile Court magistrate. Many of the attorneys affected by the delayed payments are small-business owners, for whom court-appointed work makes up a significant portion of their practice, Oliver said. Lorain County already is short on attorneys, he said. Being unable to pay the ones it has will create "a quagmire for the courts," Oliver said. There's already "more need than there is legal representation," he said. Commissioners Moore, Riddell and Gallagher are all Republicans. Snodgrass is a Democrat up for reelection this year. He will face Republican challenger Elaine Seguin in November. Starting in February, Snodgrass reduced his office hours to four days per week. His employees are working 32-hour weeks with no overtime since before Christmas, and 10 of the 60 employees he had at the end of January will have retired, resigned or taken new jobs by the end of April, he said. "We can only do this for so long," Snodgrass said. With fewer employees to handle them, court-appointed attorney bills have been "pushed back" so other bills can be paid to avoid penalties and interest, he said. Snodgrass recently returned $2 million in surplus funds from the county's real estate assessment fund to local governments and agencies. Legally separate from the county's general fund, it has restricted uses and can't be used to offset budget reductions, he said. Snodgrass said the surplus was created when he stopped hiring outside property appraisal firms starting in 2018. He instead hired and trained county employees to do the job, which saved money. The money was disbursed to nearly 100 county and local government offices, schools, townships, cities, villages, library and tax increment financing districts, Snodgrass said in a news release. Asked if commissioners planned to restore the cuts they made to Snodgrass' budget so he can return to a 40-hour work week and full staff, Moore said Friday that the nearly $40,000 Snodgrass reimbursed the county general fund from his surplus will be sent back to him "as a start." Snodgrass "has to manage his office with what he has. And honestly he seems to the only one who understands how serious the revenue is coming into the county," Moore said. Moore said if elected officials want their budgets restored, they'll have to come to commissioners hat in hand. "I have publicly stated if the other county electeds wish to restore their budgets then publicly ask us to put a sales tax on the November ballot and make the case to the people of Lorain County," he said. Snodgrass said he and his staff will keep working through the budget cuts, which he said could cost the county in penalties or interest on late payments because of cuts to his office. The county's bond rating could drop, making it more expensive to borrow money for a new Lorain County Jail, Snodgrass said. "This is not the way we want to do business," he said. "The people, the general public, they see what's going on. They see what (the commissioners) have done to us." "We need to get this county back on track, working for the people, listening to the people," Snodgrass said. "That's who we work for." Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.