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Program Description

  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 debts

owed to the County; and representing the County before administrative, trial, and appellate tribunals in matters involving child welfare and adult protective services, tax and procurement, labor and personnel, zoning, land use and economic development, and civil enforcement of the County Code.

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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.

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Program Performance Measures

Program Performance MeasuresActual FY23Actual FY24Estimated FY25Target FY26Target FY27
Number of new adoption petitions filed3828313131
Number of new termination of parental rights (TPR) petitions filed3433353535
Number of new children in need of assistance (CINA) petitions filed 1101108103103103
Number of children in need of assistance (CINA) or guardianship hearings2,2282,0232,1532,1532,153
Number of adoptions granted2933272727
Number of termination of parental rights (TPR) granted938353535
Ratio of total number of termination of parental rights (TPR) filed and adoption petitions filed and total granted100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%
Number of children in need of assistance (CINA) cases closed 290102989898
Percent of appeals in the Appellate Court won85%100%80%80%80%
Code citations processed3,5805,8014,7694,7694,769
Ratio of debt collected to amount referred to the department for collection97%81%83%83%83%
Ratio of cost of debt collection to revenue4%5%5%5%5%
Code enforcement collected ($000)$431$461$461$461$461
Ratio of wins to total code enforcement cases99.8%99.6%99.7%99.7%99.7%
Debt collection ($000)$14,213$10,684$10,000$10,000$10,000
Forfeitures collected ($000)$135$49$136$88$88
1  Following the enactment of the Federal Families First Prevention Services Act of 2018, Child Welfare Services (CWS) is mandated to provide further enhanced efforts to maintain children and families in the home and avoid removal and placement in foster care.
2  The number of CINA cases closed is outside the control of OCA or CWS. Once a CINA petition is filed with the Juvenile Court, the Court reviews the administrative actions of CWS in the context of active contested litigation and only closes a CINA case when permanency for the child (reunification, adoption, custody & guardianship, Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement) is achieved.
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Program Budget Changes

FY26 Recommended ChangesExpendituresFTEs
FY25 Approved738460637.75
Add: Assistant County Attorney III for Grants Management Support1360321.00
Multi-program adjustments, including negotiated compensation changes, employee benefit changes, changes due to staff turnover, reorganizations, and other budget changes affecting multiple programs.8832973.00
FY26 Recommended840393541.75