It’s been no secret that over the past few years that I’ve taken issue with some of the county commission’s policies and practices, most notably the disturbing use of county funds to bring notable science-deniers to our county to speak and distribute universally-panned books.
I’ve voiced those concerns and will continue to do so as long as elected leaders willingly or negligently misuse public funds to promote disproven and immoral anti-science political pundits.
However, I’ve been following very closely a few agenda items from the commission with great interest. Those issues both involve changes in the county’s budget to attempt to restructure its legal team. I have to say, bravo commissioners.
The first agenda item I saw brought up was the need to hire a new public defender to work with the court system after the current one announced his well-deserved retirement. Public defense work is critical and largely under-appreciated work that fulfills one of the noblest safeguards the Constitution provides. I was hopeful the county would recognize the benefit of competent counsel to those accused who can not afford it.
What I expected was the commission to hire another Public Defender with the expectation of a reduction in quality of service due to a mismanaged budget. What the county got was, in my opinion, a grand slam.
With a novel pitch by a handful of respected local attorneys, the county was presented with a unique opportunity to, for a little more money, significantly improve and expand its public defender network.
To my surprise and delight, the county jumped at this opportunity and sought grants and funds to employ this vision which has now been adopted.
The county courts, now equipped with a deeper network of Public Defenders should start seeing the benefit immediately, because competent counsel, for those who cannot afford it will streamline the process through the courts.
The second legal change just recently happened with the retirement of the long-time Price City attorney, which left the city in a unusual position of not having legal counsel to prosecute cases within its jurisdiction. The county, again came up with a new way to streamline the process.
While many, if not most people will only see the dollar signs associated with these changes, its important to remember how critical the justice system is to our country. The Constitutional provisions guaranteeing these services are vital to the survival of our nation and the protection of it’s residents.
County affirms commitment to justice
New New NATHANIEL WOODWARD