By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews
An outside judge has denied a request by Lincoln County district attorney Lanee Danforth for a preliminary injunction to prevent county commissioners from limiting the number of chief deputies she may appoint.
Danforth filed the lawsuit in May in a dispute over the amount of control commissioners had over her personnel decisions – including creating a second chief deputy’s position to help with case management and oversee deputy district attorneys.
Polk County presiding judge Norman Hill was brought in to oversee the lawsuit, held a hearing in September, sorted through hundreds of pages of arguments and issued a ruling last week.
The district attorney’s office has a yearly budget of $2.97 million and money for a staff of 24, which usually includes 10 attorney positions.
In his ruling Hill disagreed with Danforth’s argument that all deputy district attorneys were her employees, that she could elevate one or more to managers, and that she can determine how she uses her budget, including staff salaries.
Hill cited a variety of Oregon laws giving commissioners the authority to determine the number of deputies the district attorney can hire and their individual salaries – not just the office’s overall budget.
“Read together, these statues make clear that the county commissioners can determine whether the district attorney has deputies, the number of deputies and their individual salaries,” Hill wrote. “Plaintiff’s argument to the contrary is not well taken.”
The dispute arose last May when Danforth sought to promote deputy district attorney Jenna Wallace as her second chief deputy, whose duties include overseeing the work of deputies or office staff. Lynn Howard already held that position in the office.
It is unclear how the ruling will affect current office operations.
Howard resigned her position this summer and is now in the Linn County district attorney’s office. Danforth told YachatsNews she has taken steps to move Wallace into that position.
Commissioners hired an outside attorney to defend them and have asked the judge make Danforth pay their fees. Hill’s four-page ruling did not address that, however.
In a statement to YachatsNews, commissioners said Hill’s ruling reaffirms their ability to manage the county budget.
“We believe the law clearly sets out the authority of the county with respect to managing the budget,” the statement said. “The recent opinion by Judge Hill affirms what has been established legal precedent for many years.”
Danforth said in a statement that while she is disappointed in the preliminary injunction ruling “I am not surprised.”
“This is a complex and unprecedented legal issue and I look forward to presenting it to the court (in seeking a permanent injunction),” she said. “I remain confident that the intent of the Oregon Legislature in passing these laws is to give elected district attorneys the autonomy and authority to make decisions about how to structure and run their offices within the confines of the adopted budget. “
The chief deputy issue is the second high-profile disagreement between Danforth, commissioners and the county’s personnel office.
They were involved in a very public fight in early 2022 when Danforth sought to hire sheriff’s detective Abby Dorsey to a vacant detective position in her office. After three months, commissioners and Danforth reached an agreement to let Dorsey make the move. After 15 months in the DA’s office, Dorsey returned to the sheriff’s office in July as a patrol deputy working nights in Waldport.
Also, Danforth and Howard are being sued in U.S. District Court by former deputy district attorney Kenneth “Rusty” Park, who Danforth put on administrative leave in 2022 and later fired. That lawsuit alleges retaliation for whistleblowing, age and gender discrimination, and wrongful termination.
According to records in U.S. District Court in Eugene, the judge has ordered the county’s outside counsel to turn over to Park’s attorneys all documents related to two county internal investigations of the district attorney’s office.
Nothing like an arrogant DA who doesn’t know the law. Hope somebody will run against her when she’s up for re-election.
As a recent victim of violent crime, I have to say the district attorney’s office is the worst. Two years probation and anger management for attempted murder after five years of stalking. Maybe if they were not so busy fighting amongst themselves, they could do their jobs properly.