A report indicates that more than $104,000 was spent by former Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco to defend his office against litigation from the county, which was a violation of county policy because Pacheco went around the Board of Supervisors to use the funds for a private law firm. Back in January, Supervisor Benoit requested a report on whether or not such costs could be recovered. However, based on the county counsel's analysis, it does not appear that money will be repaid anytime soon by the former DA or the law firm that he hired. The Press Enterprise reports:
“The money -- which came from state asset forfeiture funds -- went to represent Pacheco's office in a December lawsuit he filed against supervisors and county executives in a dispute over his office's hiring procedures. The matter was settled the same month. Pacheco had been defeated for re-election in June and was replaced by Paul Zellerbach, who took office Jan. 3. Pacheco's office hired attorneys from the Santa Monica branch of the international law firm at rates of $750 and $625 hourly for two partners and $400 an hour for an associate, the report said.”
The report also points out that Pacheco did not have the authority to hire the firm, according to the terms of county policy. The report states: “Pacheco did not, however, follow the County's contracting procedures and policies when he hired Bingharn and McCutchen. The Board did not approve the retention agreement with Bingham and McCutchen, nor did the District Attorney have delegated authority to enter into an agreement and incur over $100,000 in attorneys' fees.”
Supervisors have agreed that it would not be productive to try and chase the funds. Read the full report here.
Wow, 100k is a lot of public funds! I think there needs to be more accountability in regards to how state assets are spent.
Posted by: Ford Riverside | 02/23/2011 at 08:20 AM