The Churchill County District Attorney's Office wears many hats beyond prosecuting criminal cases: serving as the county's chief legal counsel, overseeing civil litigation, advising elected officials and county departments, and administering child support services for local families. Those broad responsibilities were on display during the department's annual budget presentation to the Churchill County Commission.
District Attorney Arthur E. Mallory requested several budget increases for the coming fiscal year, including $450 for books and periodicals to cover higher LexisNexis legal research subscription costs, $7,900 for a security system compatible with the county's new phone system, $2,500 for State Bar advertising to recruit attorneys, $500 for increased telephone costs, and $5,000 to replace a damaged conference table and chairs in the civil division.
Mallory told commissioners the office has consistently operated within its budget.
"Just since 1999, every single year we've been under budget," Mallory said.
The District Attorney's Office serves as Churchill County's chief legal office. In addition to prosecuting criminal cases on behalf of the state, the office represents Churchill County in civil matters, advises county departments and elected officials, prepares legal documents, assists with juvenile proceedings, and provides victim and witness services.
The office also oversees Churchill County's Child Support Division, which establishes paternity, obtains and enforces child support orders, modifies existing support orders, locates absent parents, and collects child support payments for families throughout the county.
During the budget discussion, it was suggested that attorney recruitment advertising might be better managed by the county's Human Resources Department so that recruiting expenses could be tracked in one place.
Interim County Manager Joe Sanford said the Human Resources recruitment budget had already been increased.
"We'd already increased the budget from $2,500 to $5,000, which is enough for basically two advertisement pieces," Sanford said. "If we're going to increase the number of positions ... extra advertisements for it would just go up commensurately with that."
In closing, Mallory emphasized the workload carried by the office's criminal division.
"We do all of those things that the public defender's office doesn't have to do. And yet we have only two people, two attorneys working on the criminal side right now, in addition to Lane, who supervises them," Mallory said.
Mallory has served as Churchill County district attorney since 1999, after first being elected in 1998. The District Attorney's Office is located in the Churchill County Administration Complex at 155 N. Taylor St. in Fallon.
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