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Program Description

  General Counsel

This program provides general counsel services to the agencies and instrumentalities of the County government. These general counsel services include providing legal advice to the Executive and Legislative Branches of County government; review of legislation and transactions for legal sufficiency; collection of debts owed to the County; representation of the County in child welfare cases; representation of the County in appellate cases; and representation of the County before administrative agencies.

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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 FY22Actual FY23Estimated FY24Target FY25Target FY26
Number of new adoption petitions filed2038272727
Number of new termination of parental rights (TPR) petitions filed3834393939
Number of new children in need of assistance (CINA) petitions filed 199101105105105
Number of children in need of assistance (CINA) or guardianship hearings2,2102,2282,2702,2702,270
Number of adoptions granted2029242424
Number of termination of parental rights (TPR) granted 2339272727
Ratio of total number of termination of parental rights (TPR) filed and adoption petitions filed and total granted 391.4%100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%
Number of children in need of assistance (CINA) cases closed 410090120120120
Percent of appeals in the Appellate Court won80%85%63%63%63%
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  Total TRP petition filed is 34 and total denied is zero. Total pending is 14. Total granted is 9. Total withdrawn is 11. Even the number of granted is lower due to number of cases withdrawn and pending, but total denied is zero.
3  The percentage granted in FY23 is result of number of cases still pending. Total TPR/Adoption petition filed is 72 and total denied is zero. Total pending is 23. Total granted is 38. Total withdrawn is 11. The percentage of granted is 100% after deducting withdrawn and pending.
4  The number of CINA cases closed is outside the exclusive 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

FY25 Approved ChangesExpendituresFTEs
FY24 Approved536400131.60
Shift: Move Tax-Supported and Non-Tax Supported Chargebacks from User Departments to the Office of the County Attorney 10536515.15
Add: HIPAA Compliance Audit5040000.00
Restore: One-time lapse increase234230.00
Shift: Technical Adjustment01.00
Multi-program adjustments, including negotiated compensation changes, employee benefit changes, changes due to staff turnover, reorganizations, and other budget changes affecting multiple programs.4395310.00
FY25 Approved738460637.75