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Mission Statement

The mission of the Office of the County Attorney (OCA) is to act as the Chief Legal Officer of Montgomery County Government and to conduct all its legal business.

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Budget Overview

The total recommended FY26 Operating Budget for the Office of the County Attorney is $10,665,669, an increase of $175,983 or 1.68 percent from the FY25 Approved Budget of $10,489,686. Personnel Costs comprise 91.14 percent of the budget for 81 full-time position(s) and one part-time position(s), and a total of 51.75 FTEs. Total FTEs may include seasonal or temporary positions and may also reflect workforce charged to or from other departments or funds. Operating Expenses account for the remaining 8.86 percent of the FY26 budget.

County Priority Outcomes

While this program area supports all eight of the County Result Areas, the following is emphasized:

  • Effective, Sustainable Government

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Program Performance Measures

Performance measures for this department are included below (where applicable), with multi-program measures displayed at the front of this section and program-specific measures shown with the relevant program. The FY25 estimates reflect funding based on the FY25 approved budget. The FY26 and FY27 figures are performance targets based on the FY26 recommended budget and funding for comparable service levels in FY27.

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Initiatives

  • Implement Legal Files, a new case management cloud-based application with a technological advanced platform that offers a highly integrable case management to enhance OCA's ability to meet the daily demanding and challenging workload of Montgomery County Government.

  • Provide dedicated legal counsel to the Office of Grants Management entailing all aspects of finance, procurement, and budgeting for all grants made and received by Montgomery County Government.

  • Enhance legal counsel support to the Self-Insurance Fund, Workers-Compensation Division, to accomplish the substantially growth in workload experienced after the Maryland's Worker's Compensation Commission converted all notifications to electronic form.

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Innovations and Productivity Improvements

  • Collaborate with the Office of Human Resources and the Office of Labor Relations to accomplish the drafting, approval, and publishing of updated Montgomery County Personnel Regulations.

  • Continue providing training to Montgomery County's Management Leadership Services (MLS) workforce on significant topics such as the supervision and management of represented and unrepresented employees.

Program Descriptions

  Litigation

Through this program, OCA represents the County (and other members of the Self-Insurance Fund) before all courts and administrative agencies in which claims for relief are sought in connection with alleged wrong-doing by members of the Self-Insurance Fund and their employees. The Litigation program also provides the County with legal...

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  General Counsel

This program provides general counsel services to the County, its agencies, and instrumentalities. These general counsel services include providing legal advice to the Executive and Legislative Branches of County government on a wide variety of government operations; drafting and reviewing legislation, contracts, and real estate transactions for legal sufficiency; collecting...

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  Administration

Under this program, administrative support, financial and operational management, and oversight is provided in support of the Litigation Program and the General Counsel Program. This program also provides administrative, research, and technical guidance and support to divisions within the department, allowing for an equitable distribution of work assignments, cross-training of...

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Budget Trends
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Program Contacts

Contact Carolyn Kilgariff of the Office of the County Attorney at 240-777-6766 or Veronica Jaua of the Office of Management and Budget at 240-777-2782 for more information regarding this department's operating budget.

Related Links
Budget Summary
TitleActual
FY24
Budget
FY25
Estimate
FY25
Recommended
FY26
%Chg
Bud/Rec
COUNTY GENERAL FUND
EXPENDITURES
Salaries and Wages5975828.007341820.00 7144157.00 7708939.005.0
Employee Benefits1517648.001800649.00 1761062.00 2012135.0011.7
County General Fund Personnel Costs7493476.009142469.00 8905219.00 9721074.006.3
Operating Expenses862331.001347217.00 1148500.00 944595.00-29.9
County General Fund Expenditures8355807.0010489686.00 10053719.00 10665669.001.7
PERSONNEL
Full-Time78.0078.00 78.00 81.003.9
Part-Time1.001.00 1.00 1.000.0
FTEs43.6050.75 50.75 51.752.0
REVENUES
Other Charges/Fees1996.000.00 0.00 0.000.0
Federal Financial Participation Reimbursements173752.00250000.00 250000.00 250000.000.0
Other Intergovernmental45630.0045630.00 45630.00 45630.000.0
County General Fund Revenues221378.00295630.00 295630.00 295630.000.0
 
GRANT FUND - MCG
EXPENDITURES
Salaries and Wages0.000.00 0.00 0.000.0
Employee Benefits0.000.00 0.00 0.000.0
Grant Fund - MCG Personnel Costs0.000.00 0.00 0.000.0
Grant Fund - MCG Expenditures0.000.00 0.00 0.000.0
PERSONNEL
Full-Time0.000.00 0.00 0.000.0
Part-Time0.000.00 0.00 0.000.0
FTEs0.000.00 0.00 0.000.0
Grant Fund - MCG Revenues0.000.00 0.00 0.000.0
 
DEPARTMENT TOTALS
Total Expenditures8355807.0010489686.00 10053719.00 10665669.001.7
Total Full-Time Positions78.0078.00 78.00 81.003.8
Total Part-Time Positions1.001.00 1.00 1.000.0
Total FTEs43.6050.75 50.75 51.752.0
Total Revenues221378.00295630.00 295630.00 295630.000.0
FY26 Recommended Changes
TitleExpendituresFTEs
COUNTY GENERAL FUND
FY25 ORIGINAL APPROPRIATION1048968650.75
Changes (with service impacts)
Add: Assistant County Attorney III for Grants Management Support [General Counsel]1360321.00
Enhance: Legal Files - Case Management Software to Support OCA's Workload [Administration]360000.00
Other Adjustments (with no service impacts)
Increase Cost: FY26 Compensation Adjustment4095860.00
Increase Cost: Annualization of FY25 Compensation Increases1852490.00
Increase Cost: Lapse Adjustment [Administration]1218770.00
Increase Cost: Retirement Adjustment216550.00
Increase Cost: Miscellaneous Expenditures - Self Insurance Fund/Workers' Compensation [Administration]68000.00
Decrease Cost: Printing and Mail Adjustment-40220.00
Decrease Cost: Annualization of FY25 Personnel Costs-1113170.00
Technical Adj: Reverse one time lapse increase [Administration]-1218770.00
Decrease Cost: Elimination of One-Time Items Approved in FY25-5040000.00
FY26 RECOMMENDED1066566951.75
Program Summary
Program NameFY25 APPR
Expenditures
FY25 APPR
FTEs
FY26 REC
Expenditures
FY26 REC
FTEs
Administration296959512.00226173410.00
General Counsel738460637.75840393541.75
Litigation1354851.0000.00
Total1048968650.751066566951.75
Charges to Other Departments
Charged DepartmentCharged FundFY25
Total$
FY25
FTES
FY26
Total$
FY26
FTES
COUNTY GENERAL FUND
Permitting ServicesPermitting Services1739791.001897811.00
FinanceRisk Management (Self Insurance - ISF)364192420.00411163222.00
Housing and Community AffairsMontgomery Housing Initiative1655301.002143941.00
Health and Human ServicesGeneral Fund603601.00603601.00
Health and Human ServicesGrant Fund1942942.401942942.40
NDA - Montgomery County Employee Retirement PlansEmployees Retirement Savings Plan (RSP)179450.10195800.10
NDA - Montgomery County Employee Retirement PlansRetirement Fund (ERS)753680.42822370.42
NDA - Montgomery County Employee Retirement PlansRetiree Health Benefits Trust Fund305060.17332860.17
NDA - Montgomery County Employee Retirement PlansRSP-Disability Benefits (LTD2)107670.06117480.06
Human ResourcesEmployee Health Self Insurance179450.10195800.10
Parking District ServicesBethesda Parking604470.30651000.30
Parking District ServicesSilver Spring Parking395650.20407950.20
Recycling and Resource ManagementSolid Waste Disposal1669090.751803530.75
Recycling and Resource ManagementSolid Waste Collection556360.25601180.25
Total471117527.75528325829.75
Funding Parameter Items ($000s)
TitleFY26FY27FY28FY29FY30FY31
COUNTY GENERAL FUND
EXPENDITURES
FY26 Recommended10666.00000010666.00000010666.00000010666.00000010666.00000010666.000000
No inflation or compensation change is included in outyear projections.
Annualization of Positions Recommended in FY260.00000044.00000044.00000044.00000044.00000044.000000
New positions in the FY26 budget are generally assumed to be filled at least three months after the fiscal year begins. Therefore, the above amounts reflect annualization of these positions in the outyears.
Elimination of One-Time Items Recommended in FY260.000000-227.000000-227.000000-227.000000-227.000000-227.000000
Items recommended for one-time funding in FY26, including (Knowledge Transfer Contract, Legal Files - Case Management Software, and miscellaneous expenditures), will be eliminated from the base in the outyears.
Restore One-Time Lapse Decrease0.00000020.00000020.00000020.00000020.00000020.000000
Restores in FY27 the one-time lapse decrease made in the FY26 budget.
Labor Contracts0.00000056.00000056.00000056.00000056.00000056.000000
These figures represent the estimated annualized cost of general wage adjustments, service increments, and other negotiated items.
Subtotal Expenditures10666.00000010559.00000010559.00000010559.00000010559.00000010559.000000