Clay County hires attorneys known for criminal, civil matters for two top officials
The Clay County Commission has retained local lawyers known for their work in criminal and civil matters to represent two high-ranking county officials, according to documents obtained by The Star.
The commission hired John P. O’Connor and Brian Madden from the Wagstaff & Cartmell law firm to represent assistant county administrator Laurie Portwood, according to an Oct. 3 engagement letter that spells out the terms of their representation.
Separately, Kansas City lawyer Melanie Morgan, a partner with the Morgan Pilate law firm, was hired to represent assistant county administrator Brad Garrett to “provide those legal services necessary to represent your interests in connection with all matters that may arise as a result of or in connection with your employment with Clay County, Missouri.”
Portwood would not take questions at the Clay County Commission’s meeting on Monday.
A statement from Clay County said legal counsel was hired to represent the two assistant county administrators “on matters relating to the performance and duties associated with their roles in the county.”
“The approval was not issued in response to any specific claims involving them but instead offered in support of the work they do on the county’s behalf,” the county’s statement said.
O’Connor declined to comment; Morgan could not be reached for comment.
Lowell Pearson, a Husch Blackwell attorney serving as the county’s attorney, approved both engagement letters. He was given authority to approve the hirings by two of the county commissioners. He did not return a message seeking comment.
O’Connor and Morgan would charge Clay County $375 and $400 per hour, respectively, to represent Portwood and Garrett.
The law firm engagements figure to add to the legal bills facing Clay County. The county does not use a full-time in-house lawyer, opting instead to use outside law firms to handle matters that often involve routine public matters.
The existence of these latest legal retainers was news to Clay County Presiding Commissioner Jerry Nolte on Monday. He said he did not know what would have prompted the involvement of lawyers to represent the two county employees.
“You’re asking about a serious matter and I would not weigh in unless I had substantial proof,” Nolte said.
Commissioners Luann Ridgeway and Gene Owen, who form a consistent voting block on the three-member commission that outnumbers and goes against Nolte on most substantive county matters, did not return messages seeking comment.
That dynamic was at play again during Monday’s meeting when Nolte attempted to introduce a measure that would prohibit Clay County from entering into or renewing a contract involving an employee who had been charged, convicted or entered into a deferred prosecution agreement involving a criminal offense against the county.
Nolte said the measure was not aimed at anyone specifically. But Nolte couldn’t get the measure on a future agenda because Ridgeway and Owen voted against it on Monday.
Portwood in 2017 was investigated on allegations that she was involved in tampering with official county records, specifically cutting out county commissioner signature blocks on documents. Portwood entered into a deferred prosecution agreement to resolve the charges against her.
Clay County Sheriff Paul Vescovo’s office initially handled the investigation into the doctoring of official records before referring the matter to the Missouri Highway Patrol.
Since then, the sheriff’s budget has been cut under the last two budgets passed by a majority of the Clay County Commission. Portwood is the county’s chief budget officer; she has received pay raises the last two years.
Vescovo sued the Clay County Commission earlier this year, saying the cuts to his department’s budget left him unable to pay vendors providing health care and food to inmates of the county jail. Vescovo suspected the budget cuts were motivated by political retaliation for the Portwood investigation.
A trial court and the Missouri Court of Appeals have ruled in Vescovo’s favor in opinions that were sharply critical of the commission and of Portwood. Both opinions ordered the commission to fully fund Vescovo’s department, while the appellate court went further and said the commission should pay Vescovo’s legal fees for the trial court proceedings, which amounts to about $200,000.
The county remains subject to a long-running audit by the Missouri auditor, one that was triggered when more than 9,000 Clay County residents last year petitioned for the audit on suspicions that county government was wasting taxpayer money.
