By JIMMY LAWTON

CANTON – St. Lawrence County District Attorney Mary Rain wants higher wages for her staff, but St. Lawrence County Indigent Defenders Union President Steven Ballan says her reasoning is misleading and incorrect.

The county legislature took up the proposal last week that would raise salaries of the seven assistant district attorneys by a total of $48,000 but tabled the matter after the discussion got heated.

“The need to maintain attorney and staff continuity is an absolute necessity for this county,” a statement from Rain said. “Without addressing adequate ADA salaries, the recurring issue of turnover and inexperience will continue to loom. This is a matter of public safety - the citizens of St. Lawrence County deserve to feel safe in their community.”

St. Lawrence County Legislator Frederick S. Morrill, who proposed the raises, said the county’s ADA’s were underpaid compared to others throughout the state, which results in a high turnover and less experienced new hires. He said fewer turnovers and more experience would likely free up space in the county jail, and if the jail population decreased by five prisoners in one year, this would amount to a cost savings of $182,500.

Ballan disagreed. He said higher salaries would not likely affect the number of convictions or attorney performance.

“Unfortunately, paying prosecutors more will not increase the performance of the individual attorneys nor increase the conviction rate, any more than paying defense attorneys more will increase the percentage of not guilty verdicts. Compensation should be based upon experience, hours and supervisors’ evaluations,” Ballan said in a prepared statement.

Morrill said Democrats attending the meeting supported the resolution but Republican legislators argued that the raise was not in the budget and would be unfair to other county employees and departments who have been cutting costs.

St. Lawrence County Legislator Joseph Lightfoot R-Oswegatchie, who chairs the contract negotiating committee, said the resolution puts the county in a tough spot when it comes to department heads and employees who are not receiving raises.

In a Monday interview, he said he fully expected the measure to brought up and passed in committee by the Democrats. He said he expected also expected it would be passed at the full board meeting in June despite the oppositions and reservations from his party and the potential repercussions it could cause with ongoing salary negotiations.

He said the proposal brought forward by Morrill last week undermined the county’s process and has already impacted negotiations with the public defender’s union. He said the Ballan and the attorneys he represents will be waiting to see what happens with the ADA salaries before moving forward on the contract.

“You didn’t need a crystal ball to know what was going to happen. It is already affecting negotiations and it hasn’t been passed yet,” he said. “That’s why we have a process and that process was not followed.”

Lightfoot said Morrill’s proposal was planned in a backroom. He said the resolution did not have support from the county’s human resources department and was not even shown to St. Lawrence County Administrator Karen St. Hilaire prior to the meeting.

“We have a process set up and it was not followed. As a result we have a mess on our hands,” he said. “Not talking to the county administrator about a pay increase. That’s unforgiveable. She’s our county administrator, like her or not, she needs to be involved in these decisions long before they come before the board,” he said.

In defending the request, Rain cited the “24/7 commitment” of ADAs, who are required to “manage their caseload and appear in local or county court, while they are prepping for trials, responding to motions, and interviewing victims and witnesses. She said ADAs are always on call, requiring them to provide bail recommendations to local court judges at arraignment, respond to vehicle crash sites to assist with fatal accident collisions, and visit and assist at crime scenes, such as meth labs,” the news release said.

Ballan argued that Rain’s comments were incorrect.

“Although Ms. Rain contends her staff is available round the clock, seven days a week, this is not the case,” he said.

Ballan said a letter issued by Rain to all town city and village justices showed her ADA’s are not working around the clock.

Ballan said the letter written by Rain states “During the month of January, I will not be sending an ADA to local courts except Ogdensburg, Massena, and Gouverneur.”

He said that public defenders meanwhile are working around the clock.

“There are 36 city, town and village courts in St. Lawrence County. During January, 2014, the Public Defender and Conflict Defender sent criminal defense attorneys to all thirty-six courts without interruption,” he said.

Rain said her proposal deserved support in light of the reduction in county costs her office has accrued since she took office.

“The previous administration turned over its attorney staff every 18 months, leading to significant backlogs, speedy trial dismissals, and poor conviction rates,” which all cost money, the statement said.

Lightfoot said many of the county’s departments have been able to trim costs and that any raises should be handled through the proper channels.