Van der Maaten explains Winneshiek County Attorney Office funding

Should Winneshiek County have a full-time instead of part-time County Attorney?  Present County Attorney Andy Van der Maaten visited with Winneshiek County supervisors Monday to answer questions from Tom Hanson of Decorah, who raised the issue recently.

Van der Maaten is paid $59,436 for his work, while Assistant County Attorney Barrett Gipp is paid 85 percent of Van der Maaten's salary, or $50,521 a year, and Assistant County Attorney Steve Belay is paid 45 percent of Van der Maaten's salary, or $26,746, for his work.  Other expenses bring the yearly budget for the County Attorney's Office to $315,000.

Van der Maaten told supervisors his office does a lot of work for that sum, including criminal prosecutions, juvenile court cases, traffic court cases and legal representation of county officials, including the county board.

64 of Iowa's 99 counties have full-time County Attorneys, but Van der Maaten says a typical salary would be $85,000 to $90,000.  Then there's the cost of creating office space for a full-time County Attorney, as well as the routine expenses of the office.

County Treasurer Wayne Walter spoke Monday in favor of keeping the County Attorney job part-time, saying the county is getting a good return from its investment.  County supervisor Floyd Ashbacher--a former Winneshiek County Sheriff--agreed, saying the present arrangement "has worked quite well."  County board chairman John Logsdon says 11 years ago he studied the same question Tom Hanson has been asking--and concluded the part-time County Attorney was the best arrangement.