County commissioners to have a different day in court

Absence of judge forces date change to Sept. 16

A show-cause hearing to show cause in the lawsuit against Grant County commissioners Leroy Allison, Deborah Moore and Tim Snead originally scheduled for Wednesday morning has been postponed.

A motion of continuance filed by Moses Lake attorney Carl N. Warring was granted by Judge John Hotchkiss, a visiting jurist from Chelan County.

Warring, one of the plaintiffs in the case against commissioners LeRoy Allison, Deborah Moore and Tim Snead stated in his motion of continuance that although a show cause hearing was scheduled for yesterday, the unavailability of a judge to preside over the hearing made the continuance necessary.

Judges in the Grant County Superior Court have a policy of recusing themselves from litigation when there are local lawyers involved in this type of proceeding. There are four Grant County attorneys listed as plaintiffs in this case.

Warring had originally made a motion for Grant County Superior Court Judge Evan Sperline to hear the case.

Therefore, all three Grant County Superior Court judges have recused themselves. Since a visiting judge is not available until Sept. 16, the hearing will take place on that day.

"Granting the defendants additional time to respond will not prejudice them," Warring wrote in the motion.

Warring, along with 10 other attorneys from Grant and Chelan counties, filed suit against Allison, Snead and Moore as individuals for failing to approve the payment of fees for the attorneys' volunteer and conscripted indigent-defense work.

Auditor Bill Varney was also named in the suit, though he is not required to show cause.

Warring and the other attorneys contend they should be paid at rates between $132 and $150 per hour, which set by Grant County superior court judges after the disbarment of public defender Tom Earl.

The commissioners instead approved $80,000 to be paid to all the conscripted and volunteer attorney at $550 per case — a difference of thousands of dollars.

Some attorneys accepted that deal instead of filing suit.