At its first meeting of 2012, the Board of Commissioners approved the Public Defender contract and intergovernmental agreement with Pickens County. The moved simply approves the County’s portion of the agreement. Fannin, Gilmer, and Pickens Counties each pay a portion for Public Defender services. In November, the Public Defender’s Office presented its budget to the three counties. However, the counties found the increases unaffordable. The counties then decided to move the benefits of some of the employees in the Public Defender’s Office from state benefits to county benefits, county benefits being the more affordable of the two. And, of the three, the Pickens’ Benefits are the most affordable. The Public Defender’s office did not agree with this decision and ever since, has been in negotiation with the counties.

Watch the video of the approval of the agreement.