Escambia County’s unincorporated area has five times the population of the City of Pensacola. The Board of County Commissioners has more than twice the number of employees, 1766.
County Attorney Alison Rogers has a staff of 13, including herself and four other attorneys.The County Attorney is responsible for the prosecution and the defense of all lawsuits brought by or against the County, the representation of the County at administrative hearings, the drafting or review of ordinances and resolutions, approval of all contracts, bonds or written instruments as to form and legal sufficiency, and the rendering of legal opinions upon request to the Board of County Commissioners, constitutional officers and the County Administrator.
Her department handles:
A. Administrative Law
B. Appellate Law
C. Civil Rights
D. Code Enforcement
E. Contract and Construction Law
F. Corrections
G. Election Law
H. Eminent Domain
I. Franchise
J. General Government Practice
K. Intergovernmental Agreements
L. Labor/Employment Law
M. Land Use and Planning
N. Real Property Law
O. Risk Management
P. Torts and Contract Actions
Q. Workers’ Compensation
Total budget: $1,462,398
The City of Pensacola paid outside attorneys $1,428,814, plus more than $500K in salaries and benefits for the four attorneys he has on his staff: Lysia Bowling, Rusty Wells, Stephanie Tillery, and Matt Shaud. If citizens were allowed to examine the city books, they would discover Mayor Hayward paid more than $2 million for attorneys in FY 2016.
With the right legal team, Mayor Ashton Hayward could take his legal needs completely inside City Hall and cut his costs in half. The taxpayers would save $1 million.
From FY 2004-FY 2007, the City of Pensacola had four attorneys in its Legal Department and two legal assistants.
The budget by year:
FY 2004: $797,800
FY 2005: $811,400
FY 2006: $846,100
FY 2007: $727,300*
FY 2008: $708,600*
FY 2009: $545,300**
FY 2010: $527,800**
*Starting FY 2007, the city began to cut back on its attorneys, only funding three.
**In FY 2009, the city only had two attorneys and one legal assistant and began to rely more on outside attorneys. Today, he has the one attorney and a legal assistant in his Legal Department. The other three attorneys work in Sunshine Center, City Administrator’s office and Financial Services.