The county attorney’s office staff is very busy these days. A November 7 memo from Assistant County Attorney Molly Hicken to Cook County Board of Commissioners departmental liaison Heidi Doo- Kirk states, “On October 15, 2013, [County Attorney] Tim Scannell gave notice that he was leaving the office indefinitely on medical leave and that he would be passing responsibility for running the office on to myself with the assistance of Jeanne Smith. Tim stated he would support an increase in wage for both Jeanne and I because of the drastic increase in responsibility.”
Attorney Scannell left on medical leave just one week before a grand jury in St. Louis County indicted him on two felony counts of criminal sexual conduct related to his relationship with a 17-yearold
Cook County girl. After he was charged at the Cook County courthouse on October 31, the family issued a statement saying, “Tim Scannell and his family have been under extreme stress ever since the attempt on his life in December 2011, when he was shot multiple times and nearly died in the Cook County Courthouse.”
The statement says Scannell “still works every day to deal with the PTSD, anxiety, and depression caused by the shooting. …Tim knows he acted inappropriately and continues to apologize and make amends for his poor decision and the pain he has caused the family involved, his own family, the community, and all of their friends. … All of the alleged events in this case occurred while he was suffering in the darkest hours of his severe depression.”
Assistant County Attorney Hicken and Victim-Witness Coordinator/Paralegal Jeanne Smith have been handling the workload while County Attorney Scannell is gone. Smith is a licensed attorney.
On November 12, Attorney Hicken asked the county board to give her and Smith temporary outof class wage increases to reflect their current workload.
Hicken requested that her salary be increased from an annual rate of $69,500 yearly to an annual rate of $79,687. She requested that Smith’s salary be increased from an annual rate of $37,972 to an annual rate of $60,763. The request was for the increases to be effective as of October 16, the first day of Scannell’s leave.
The county attorney’s office handles adult crimes, juvenile delinquency, child and adult protection, child support, victim notification, coordination of witnesses, county board business, zoning enforcement, departmental contracts, and legal assistance to departments and the county board.
County policy allows out-ofclass temporary assignments for up to six months, but they can be renewed. Elected officials such as the county attorney have no set work hours, vacation time, or sick leave. County Attorney Scannell will continue to be paid his full salary while he is on leave.
The county board approved the temporary wage increases for Hicken and Smith for up to six months as long as they need to continue performing the extra duties. Their salaries will eventually revert back to where they would have been when the temporary assignments are over.
“It does cost us some money to do this,” said Commissioner Sue Hakes, “but I think it’s important to recognize the work that’s been done by Molly and Jeanne in that office and the work that will be done by them in order to stabilize that office.”
Hicken said she will plan to attend each county board meeting until the lunch break. Court administration will be scheduling court cases for the afternoon on court days that coincide with county board meeting days.
The board also approved an extension of the county’s contract with Attorney Vernon Swanum of Duluth. The board had previously approved an expenditure of up to $15,000 for his services, but the contract had expired after only about $8,000 had been spent. Assistant County Attorney Hicken requested the extension so Attorney Swanum could work on an attempted murder case Attorney Scannell had been working on. She said she had a “conflict” with the case and Attorney Smith did not have enough experience to handle it. The board approved extending the contract with Swanum through March 31, 2014 and authorized an expenditure of up to the remainder of the $15,000.
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