SANDPOINT — In a special meeting Monday, county commissioners approved a $10,000 signing/relocation bonus for new attorney hires in the prosecutor's office in an effort to keep up with higher salaries throughout neighboring counties.  

The bonus is meant to combat moving expenses in the area, while allowing future candidates who may already live in the county a fair incentive. 

Prosecutor Louis Marshall’s request for wages to begin at $90,000 for county prosecutors was not approved during Monday’s meeting but instead listed as an action item for the prosecutor’s office and HR to evaluate the different positions, titles and appropriate wage ranges for the applicable positions.  

The newly approved bonus will not affect community dollars and will be taken from funds already available from the office’s budget.  

One of the first things disclosed in the meeting was the office’s struggle to maintain personnel numbers due to other higher paying opportunities throughout the area. Current staffing levels are reflected at four attorneys — two criminal deputies and two civil. While it was mentioned that personnel may shift to three criminal deputies and one civil, Marshall told county commissioners that his office required a total of eight attorneys — six criminal deputies and two civil to function at optimal levels.  

Marshall further expressed the necessity of higher wages to attract and keep attorneys, noting that in previous years the office would receive 20 to 25 applications for open positions, compared to the zero applications this year.  

“We're proactively going to the law school, which that would have been a pretty darn good job in my time to get to be a deputy prosecutor out of law school. We didn't have a single applicant, not one,” said Marshall.  

Commissioner Asia Williams noted the wage gap between private sectors and the county, saying that private jobs for law school graduates come with sign-on bonuses and the flexibility to work from home.  

Marshall indicated that direct competitors included Kootenai County, whose chief prosecuting deputy is paid $30,000 more than Bonner County’s position, and the Bonner County public defenders, whose starting rates are $90,000.