Dawson County Closer to Hiring Staff Attorney

DAWSONVILLE, Ga. — Although there has been no formal vote, Dawson County is one step closer to ending its relationship with the law firm of Fox, Chandler, Homans, Hicks and McKenna and hiring a staff attorney after a 12-member committee met today and began to outline the scope of work that would be expected if such a hire should take place.

Because Commissioners Jim Hamby, Julie Nix and Sharon Fausett are members of the committee, it is almost certain they will vote to make the change when the Board of Commissioners meets in regular session Tuesday.

County Manager David Headley said recently that the decision is “mainly an efficiency and economics issue.”

Headley said the county was billed $190,673.64 for legal services in 2015 and $167,530.69 thus far in 2016.

Monday’s meeting came after Chairman Mike Berg, who will be leaving the Board at the end of this month, cautioned fellow commissioners to be careful what they wish for, however.

Berg said when he was member of the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners in the 1980s the same decision was made and, “The first couple of years we spent twice as much as we planned.”

The legal services agreement with Fox, Chandler, Homans, Hicks and McKenna will end on Dec. 31.