Santa Rosa County is seeking to permanently replace the County Attorney after abruptly firing former Attorney Roy Andrews in December.
In the wake of the vacancy, the board hired Gregory T. Stewart of the firm of Nabors, Giblin & Nickerson as Interim County Attorney to provide primary legal services with support from other firm partners and associates.
Commissioners discussed whether or not they would prefer seeking legal services from an outside firm or hiring an in-house attorney.
“It would take a (former County Attorney) Tom Dannheisser to get me to go in house,” said District 1 Commissioner Sam Parker, who said he has no complaints about the Nabors firm.
Parker expressed support to move forward with issuing two RFPs, which allow the board to consider options outsourcing or select an in-house attorney, if they agree on a suitable candidate.
The current fiscal year budget for the County Attorney is $474,000, which includes costs other than for the attorney(s).