County Board rejects prosecutor grant, again

For the second time in four weeks, the Gage County Board of Supervisors Wednesday rejected a grant that would have paid for a deputy county attorney to prosecute alcohol-related crimes.

Originally, the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety offered Gage County $44,000 -- one year's salary for the deputy attorney -- for the first year of the grant, 75 percent of that amount for the second year and half of it for the third year.

The grant did not cover insurance or support staff for the new attorney, and the board of supervisors feared accepting the money ultimately would be too expensive.

After the board rejected the grant, Gage County Attorney Randall Ritnour amended the grant application, and on Wednesday, asked the Board of Supervisors to accept an amended grant that would have paid $96,380 a year for three years -- enough money to cover salary, benefits and support staff in full each year, Ritnour said.

Still, the board was skeptical.

Supervisor Gary Barnard said he would prefer the county receive a grant to fund alcohol education instead of alcohol prosecution. He wondered whether there was space in the courthouse for another office and whether the grant would really reduce the number of drunken drivers on the road.

Ritnour replied that education was a part of the grant, too. And he pointed out that the position wouldn't cost the board anything.

"We're talking about a no-strings-attached grant to address a serious safety concern in Gage County," he said.

Board President Rex Adams asked Ritnour if the county attorney's office had thrown out any DUI or Minor in Possession cases due to a lack of resources to handle them.

No, Ritnour replied, but said his staff frequently works nights and weekends to stay on top of a heavy caseload in a growing county.

Supervisor Dave Anderson didn't buy that. He described Ritnour's office as "a spinning top" with lots of talk but few results.

Anderson said Ritnour has been reluctant to work on civil cases or to advise the county board on legal matters, which has led to hard feelings between Ritnour's office and board members. And, he said, he sometimes feels like Ritnour tries to manipulate the board.

Ultimately, Anderson said he didn't want to reward Ritnour's office with another attorney when it's not running the way it should.

"They're not real effective," Anderson said of Ritnour's office.

The only commissioner to speak in support of accepting the grant was Allen Grell, who pointed out that the only reason Gage County was even eligible to receive it was because it's among 23 Nebraska counties the Office of Highway Safety has identified as "high risk" based on the rate of alcohol-related car accidents and alcohol-related crimes among minors.

"They're handing us a ton of money to help make Gage County safer," he said.

In the end, the board voted 5-0 to reject the grant. Harlan Hagemeier was absent, and Grell abstained.

Gage is not the first county to do so. In the 30-year history of the grant, a handful of other counties have voted to turn down the money, said Fred Zwonechek, Nebraska Office of Highway Safety administrator.

But Zwonechek said the program does seem to be working. When the grant program was first designed, more than 40 Nebraska counties fit the eligibility criteria. Last year, 24 counties were eligible, this year, 23.

After the meeting, Ritnour said he’s not done fighting for the grant.

"We're just going to have to consider our options, and we do have some options," he said.

He declined to say what, exactly, those options were.

But he'd like the extra help both for his office and for the entire county.

"It's fiscally and morally responsible to do this," he said.

In other business the board:

n Voted to accept a preliminary budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year of $9.5 million -- an increase from $8.6 million last fiscal year. The board also voted to hold a public hearing on the 2008-09 budget on Sept. 10 at 10:30 a.m.

n Recognized Jace Bowhay for winning the world championship in the National Little Britches Finals Rodeo.

n Approved advertising for bids on new audio equipment for the Board of Supervisors hearing room. Barnard estimated the new equipment would cost around $10,000.

n Listened to Kerry Eagan, Lancaster County Chief Administrative Officer, discuss the process of combining the Register of Deeds with another county office. No action was taken on the issue.