Sedgwick County gives raise to district attorney’s office lawyers

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – The Sedgwick County District Attorney’s office is short lawyers and has been for years. On Wednesday, county commissioners approved a more than 7% raise for those attorneys.

The raise is changing the minimum starting salary for an entry-level attorney at the DA’s office from $74,000 to $80,000.

The Sedgwick County DA hopes it will help bolster his strained workforce and make the county more of a contender when it comes to recruitment.

For the past few years, the Sedgwick County DA’s office has been struggling with a lack of staff.

“We’ve been able to address the issues in other ways by keeping special dockets, by allocating our resources to attend to the issues that we’re dealing with, but it’s not sustainable long term,” said Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett.

The office has always struggled with high turnover.

“We’ve always been able to have people waiting in the wings, and pass the bar, and come in, and replace them within short order,” Bennett said. “It’s been tougher the last four or five years.”

Bennett’s office has more than 50 attorneys. Asking for a raise for everyone is costing the county half a million dollars a year.

He said smaller counties with fewer lawyers can afford to pay tens of thousands more per person.

“They’re getting paid a lot more, and the caseloads aren’t nearly as severe as here,” Bennett said.

Lawyers are also concentrated in the northeast corner of the state, closer to where they earned their degrees.

Commissioners are directing county staff to come up with a plan that could reimburse some tuition costs to help recruit.

“A lot of attorneys graduate with debts, and if they can sign a contract with us, we can help relieve part of that debt,” said Sedgwick County Commissioner David Dennis.

Commissioners said even if they approve a tuition reimbursement plan, it would likely take years for it to have an impact on staffing.

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