Vote: approved

Item Text

28. EXEMPTION TO THE POST EMPLOYMENT (RETIREMENT) HEALTH PLAN ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM-PUBLIC DEFENDER Approve an exemption to the Post Employment (Retirement) Health Plan Enhancement Program (RHEP), approved by the Board on March 16, 2009 and allow ATTORNEY–SENIOR position 00061152 to be replaced with an ATTORNEY-SENIOR ASSOCIATE position in the Office of the Public Defender. The Office of the Public Defender requests an exemption to the RHEP requirement that positions vacated as a result of program participation be inactivated. The department requests instead that a replacement position be created at a lower market range. Also, approve an exemption to the RHEP to allow the Office of the Public Defender to utilize the full hiring range to place the attorney selected to fill the replacement ATTORNEY-SENIOR ASSOCIATE position at the appropriately mapped rate. The potential range for the position is $30.26/Hour to $42.05/Hour. Position #00061152, in the Office of the Public Defender, was vacated as a result of the previous incumbents participation in the 2009 Retirement Health Enhancement Program. The position attributes are as follows: MRT: Attorney - Senior Status: Classified Budgeted Rate: $52.74 Legal representation is mandated for defendants charged in felony cases. Therefore, any cases that would have previously been handled by the retiring attorney in the Office of the Public Defender will have to be assigned somewhere in Indigent Representation, most likely with contractor attorneys at a higher cost. Allowing the Public Defender to recruit and fill this lower market range position will produce a cost savings. Due to the nature of this position, the management of Indigent Representation feels it fiscally prudent to replace the incumbent in position #00061152 with a new position with the following attributes: MRT: Attorney – Senior Associate Status: Classified Budgeted Rate: $36.16 (mid-range) Due to the impending retirement of an ATTORNEY-SENIOR the department will achieve additional budgeted savings for FY 2009-10. Hiring a lower level ATTORNEY-SENIOR ASSOCIATE, assuming mid-range, to replace the retiring ATTORNEY-SENIOR will result in $40,035 in savings. Since the Office of the Public Defender has already achieved $1,520,319 in budgetary reductions in the General Fund for FY 2010, no further reductions are required at this time. (C-52-09-004-M-00)