Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank has been at loggerheads with other elected officials in the first six months of his term, conflicts that have roped in two attorneys and portend more lawsuits. So who pays the bill?
So far the county is on the hook for as much as $16,000 for an attorney charging $400 an hour to advise Swank on six issues over which he’s locked horns with County Executive Ryan Mello, Prosecutor Mary Robnett and County Council Chair Jani Hitchen.
Swank has expressed disdain over not being able to hand-pick his own attorney and already has been advised by — and been barred from officially consulting with — a private lawyer who served Mello, Robnett and Hitchen a demand for mediation in May. No county funds have been committed to the attorney, Joan Mell, for her services, but she and Swank have made it clear they will see compensation for work she has already done…