The Board of Commissioners has prioritized excellent legal services from one of the best Constitutional attorneys in the State of Michigan.
Kallman Legal Group is known for being a top Constitutional law firm in the state.
They successfully defended a barber named Karl Manke in Owosso, who refused to close his shop when Gretchen Whitmer tried to shut it down during Covid. Kallman Legal also defended the religious liberties of Western Michigan University athletes who had religious objections to forced Covid shots. Kallman Legal has a long history of defending individual rights.
Recently, an article was published by local media comparing the county’s legal costs in 2022 and 2023.
Unfortunately, the comparison ignored the legal fees paid by the insurance authority in 2022, which was $225,000.
How can you compare costs if you leave out $225,000?
The article created a misleading comparison, to the detriment of the county, because $225,000 shouldn’t be ignored.
I emailed and asked the reporter if he did his due diligence, and if it’s acceptable to exclude important facts under the latest journalism code of ethics.
The reporter replied and confirmed that he decided not to include the information because it would “take time” to request it via a FOIA.
My email to the reporter also mentioned part of the reason for legal fees in 2023 was lawsuits filed against the Board of Commissioners.
I want to set the record straight on one of the narratives I’ve been hearing.
In the past, Ottawa County relied on legal counsel from mainly one person. It’s strange that reporters “forget” to mention insurance authority costs when referring to expenses.
When asked how much the County and the Insurance Authority paid the prior legal counsel Silver & Van Essen, it was reported by Fiscal Services the amounts were:
Legal Costs
Ottawa County now has multiple attorneys serving the board and staff, instead of just one person raking in $400,000 a year.
The new Corporation Counsel has worked extremely hard to resolve deficiencies and put new processes and standardized contract language in place to protect Ottawa County and our residents.
With a county of our size and a $264M budget, our legal counsel costs are extremely reasonable. Having the best Constitutional Corporate Counsel is a priority for the Board to protect the county and citizens.
Since Attorney General Dana Nessel came into town in 2022 and reportedly advised Democratic activists and prior and continuing board members to engage in lawfare and recalls against the new board of commissioners, hiring Kallman Legal Group was a fortuitous decision.