CANTON — St. Lawrence County legislators approved a deal for the county attorney to handle Department of Social Services support cases in court.

The board passed the resolution at their Monday, Dec. 7 full board meeting.

At the November Services Committee meeting, DSS Commissioner Cynthia Ackerman said her office handles 2,400 of the cases annually.

County Attorney Steve Button at the committee meeting said his office is already handling child support cases from outside the county that are sent to court here, and his office would be willing and able to accept the new caseload.

He said state Social Services Law allows Ackerman, with Board of Legislators approval, to fill "as many appointed positions for attorneys, experts and the like to perform legal functions, if necessary."

the resolution noted that he also handled DSS legal matters from Jan. 28 to April 5 of this year, and their support cases from July 27 to Aug. 7. The County Attorney’s Office and DSS will both review the arrangement after six months, the resolution says.

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