Page 16 - Flathead Beacon // 12.24.14

16 | DECEMBER 24, 2014 NEWS FLATHEADBEACON.COM Libby, Troy Replace City Attorney with Law Firms
Lincoln County communities hire lawyers out of Helena and Whitefish for their legal services
By JUSTIN FRANZ of the Beacon
Two towns in Lincoln County have turned to law firms for their legal services instead of employing a sin- gle city attorney on contract.
In early December, Libby and Troy’s city councils voted to hire law firms out of Helena and Whitefish after both towns’ attorneys left their positions. Libby contracted with Doney Crowley P.C. in Helena where Allen Payne will cover civil issues and Marc Buyske will cover criminal prosecution. Troy is contracting with Hedman, Hileman & LaCosta in Whitefish where Clifton Hayden will work on civil cases and Caleb Simpson will serve as the city prosecutor.
The vacancies occurred earlier this year when Troy city attorney Heather McDougall and Libby’s James
Reintsma announced they were both stepping down from their city council-appointed positions.
Mayor Doug Roll said Payne had approached him earlier this year about his Helena firm taking over for Reintsma. Payne is a Libby native and has been in- volved with numerous legal issues in the community before, including helping get a settlement from Inter- national Paper a few years ago and representing the Lincoln County Port Authority in its lawsuit against Stinger Welding. Payne’s firm was hired by the city council in a three-to-two vote earlier this month.
“We’ve known Allen for years and he has done a lot for this community,” Roll said.
Payne’s firm, Doney Crowley P.C., will be paid about $5,600 a month or about $67,000 annually. That is sig- nificantly more than what the last attorney was paid, but Roll said the city will get more services and there is too much work in Libby for one attorney to handle.
“It was a heck of a lot of work and you need more than one attorney,” Roll said. “Even if we have to pay a little
more, I’m tired of having the city underrepresented.” Troy will be paying considerably less for its new at- torney, although the workloads between the two jobs are considerably different. Troy Mayor Darren Cold- well said the attorneys at Hedman, Hileman & LaCosta in Whitefish would be paid an hourly rate of $100. He said the new agreement should save the city $4,000 to $5,000 annually; the previous attorney was paid about $20,000 a year. When the contracted city attorney needs to appear at a city council meeting, they will be
able to appear through videophone.
In the past it was common for communities to have a
single city attorney, but David Nielsen, interim director of the Montana League of Cities and Towns, said more towns are now working with larger legal firms. He said the larger firms often have more resources and more at- torneys that specialize in different aspects of the law.
“It’s a better deal for the cities and towns,” Nielsen
said.
[email protected]
By BEACON STAFF
A district court judge has reduced
the bond of one of the six local men ar- rested in an alleged Internet sex sting over the summer.
Daniel Anthony Hall, 33, appeared before Judge Heidi Ulbricht on Dec. 18 for a bond reduction hearing. Hall’s bond was set at $100,000 after his ar-
rest in August. He pleaded not guilty to the charge of sexual abuse of children in September.
Hall asked the judge to reduce his bond so his family could afford to get him out of jail, where he’s been for four months. He also listed several medical and insurance issues that could be com- pounded if he stays incarcerated.
His attorney Emily Lamson asked
that his bond be reduced to $25,000. Prosecutors with the Flathead Coun- ty Attorney’s Office asked that Hall’s bond stay at $100,000 given the nature
of the allegations against him.
Ulbricht ruled that Hall’s bond
would be reduced to $50,000. According to court documents, Hall
allegedly responded to an online ad so- liciting a man to help a 12-year-old girl
“become a woman.” Hall began texting with an undercover agent who was pre- tending to be a woman setting up the sexual encounter with the young girl.
Over the course of several days, pros- ecutors say Hall sent numerous explicit text messages and eventually he was giv- en an address and instructed to meet the girl. Hall traveled to the home and was confronted by officers.
Sex Sting Suspect’s Bond Reduced
HAPPY
HOLIDAYS
Kelcy Berry, CISR, AINS
(406) 751-2363
[email protected]
Ray Steinborn, AINS
(406) 758-4214
[email protected]
Peter J. Howard
(406) 837-7602
[email protected]
Kalispell
33 Village Loop (406) 758-4200
Bigfork
255 Bridge Street (406) 837-7600
Polson
424 Main Street (406) 883-8380
Whitefish
807 Spokane Avenue, Suite 400
(406) 862-0980
PayneWest.com