Shasta County’s costs for hiring outside legal counsel was not as much as previously reported by one analysis, but it’s still an amount that may be shocking to some taxpayers. Over the course of 4 fiscal years, from July 1st of 2019 to June 30th of 2023, the county spent nearly $13 Million on private attorneys. Outside counsel is routinely used for things like union contract negotiations and workers compensation disputes. The expenditures also include issues such as fending off the Fountain Wind Project, a public records suit the county lost to the Record Searchlight and negotiations with Redding Rancheria. The Grand Jury didn’t address whether the costs were justified or the significant increase in those costs over previous years, but they stressed the importance of public transparency.
– Steve Gibson