County Attorney speaks on Council's denial of legal services Plan Commission

Two members of the Marshall County Council appeared before the County Commissioners during the Public Comments portion of Monday’s meeting for informational purposes on a “developing situation.”

Council president Jesse Bohannon and member Nicole Cox said during their meeting last Thursday an issue was brought to light concerning the Planning Department’s budget. 

Bohannon said the department ran out of funds in a couple of line items in June and the council instructed them to seek prior authorization before incurring additional expenses in certain categories.  He said a system was created to document how they were to receive approval of expenditures in the legal line item and the advertising line of the 2024 budget. Bohannon said the council has created line items in their budget to pay those expenses.

As the conversation continued Bohannon said on June 13^th County Plan Director Ty Adley was instructed not to incur any additional expenses without prior authorization.  He said since that date the department has incurred over $900 in unauthorized legal expenses, one of which was specifically denied, an amount of $540.       

During the conversation at Thursday’s council meeting, their attorney Marcel Lebbin was asked to contact the Plan Commission attorney Derek Jones making sure he was aware there was no authorization for him to attend the June 27^th meeting nor to incur additional legal expenses without authorization.  Mr. Jones said he had been aware of the issue since the June meeting.  Bohannon went on to say, “So for the last month they have been intentionally overrunning their budget.”  The council president said he didn’t know how the council was going to handle the issue.  He went on to say, “Mr. Jone and the leadership of the planning department is putting the county in a very bad position right now.” 

The County Attorney, Jim Clevenger explained, “The plan commission is a separate statutorily established commission, and it includes the right to have legal counsel at its choosing.” He continued, “I don’t know that the council is in the appropriate stead to tell a separate statutorily established commission that they cannot have an attorney even though the state says that they can have an attorney.”

At this point Mr. Bohannon began to interrupt the commissioner’s attorney as he tried to speak and said the plan commission spent their budget for legal services and that they didn’t cut them off. 

Clevenger explained that the Plan Commission has the right to have an attorney present at meetings they are required to conduct. 

Bohannon then asked the attorney if he was speaking for the commissioners, and he said he was speaking to Mr. Bohannon’s comments and talking from a county perspective.

Bohannon then said, “I’m not asking Mr. Clevenger’s opinion here, I’m here to address you guys (the commissioners),” and Mr. Clevenger said, “I’m giving you my opinion as the county attorney.”

The battle between the County Council and the Plan Commission is to try and keep the plan commission from developing additional ordinances pertaining to Battery Energy Storage Systems and Industrial Solar, wanting it to be put off until the new council and commissioner members are elected and take office next year.