City Council Meeting Date: June 18, 2019
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Ben Martig, City Administrator
Title
Consider Approval of First Amendment to Contract for Prosecuting City Attorney Services.
Body
Action Requested:
The Northfield City Council considers a Motion approving the attached First Amendment to Contract for Legal Services with Eckberg, Lammers, Briggs, Wolff & Vierling, P.L.L.P.
Summary Report:
The Northfield City Council discussed Civil and Criminal Prosecution Contract Extensions on June 4, 2019. Based on Council discussion, the First Amendment to Contract for Legal Services (Attachment 1) provides for a five-year extension to the existing contract. In addition, the termination clause was amended to include that the contract may be terminated by either party upon 60 days written notice. This is common in legal services contacts. Staff recommends approval of the amendment.
The City approved a five-year agreement with Eckberg Lammers for Criminal Prosecution Legal Services (attachment 2) on July 8, 2014. The current contract expires on July 31, 2019.
The City Council likely does not have as much working familiarity with Eckberg-Lammers as it relates to criminal prosecution. Therefore, the Police Department has attached summaries of cases from 2016-2019 (attachments 3 & 4) and put together some of the following thoughts as it relates to their experiences in working with Eckberg-Lammers and their staff:
- Their support staff are very responsive to our requests and work closely with our Records and Evidence Staff to ensure case documents are properly requested and distributed. They also send timely court notices to officers and staff.
- Attorneys regularly seek input from officers and administration for specific and general case prosecution. Attorneys visit the NPD on a regular basis to discuss cases, review processes, and provide formal and informal training.
- Attorneys provide monthly newsletters with updates and timely advi...
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