PIERRE — The Hughes County Commission this week passed a budget supplement resolution to cover court appointed attorney costs incurred by the county. County Manager Kevin Hipple says county is spending a lot of money for lawyers for court…
Hipple says State’s Attorney Jessica LaMie is trying to get costs under control…
Commission Chair Randy Vance says Hughes County won’t be able to sustain these kinds of fees…
Hughes County has three public defender contracts. If a lawyer takes a case of the contract, they get paid from the court appointed budget. The County also has no contract for attorneys in misdemeanor cases which means those cases are also covered by the court appointed attorney budget.