Franklin Co. Commission To Keep Samuels As County Attorney

By MJ Kneiser, WLHR Radio, Lavonia

Franklin County Commissioners will keep the Samuels Law Firm as their county attorney for another year.

At its meeting Monday evening, the Franklin County Commission voted to continue with Bubba Samuels as the county attorney after doing extensive research.

In November, Franklin County Commission Chair Thomas Bridges asked that request for proposals be sent out to area law firms to see if the county could get a better deal and cut down attorneys’ fees.

In 2015, Samuels charged Franklin County a flat $100 an hour for his services.

Franklin County Manager Beth Thomas said twelve law firms expressed an interest in the job, but only five proposal packets were returned.

Those five law firms included, the Samuels Law Firm of Buford, the Law Firm of Royal-Will in Lawrenceville, Jarrard & Davis, LLP in Cumming, the Kidd Law Firm of Lavonia, and the J. Pope Langstaff Law Firm of Macon.

Thomas said all of the packets were reviewed on December 11 by a specially appointed subcommittee.

“The legal services subcommittee, which included myself, the Commission Chair, John Phillips and Commissioner Eddie Wester evaluated the submissions,” Thomas said. “But in addition we also included one more person on the subcommittee for an independent review. Mr. Ted Baggitt with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government also reviewed the submissions and provided his criteria to me via teleconference.”

Thomas said after reviewing the packets, the subcommittee narrowed their choices down to two finalists, which included the Samuels Law Firm.

She said they then made their recommendation.

“Based on the available submissions and criteria, the Samuels Firm is recommended as our legal services provider for the net calendar year. They have the highest scores for experience and capability in the local government arena. In addition, the firm was tied for the most cost-effective criteria,” Thomas told the board.

Thomas then outlined the new attorney contract for the Franklin County Commission, which she said carried one minor change.

“It is the recommendation of the subcommittee to appoint the Samuels Law Firm as the county attorney based on the hourly rate of $100 as presented in the RFP,” Thomas said. “The current process of receiving authorization for work from the County Manager should remain intact, while the benefit package should be eliminated in the new contract.”

Thomas said in the past, the Franklin County Attorney was offered county health insurance, but that has been eliminated for the 2016 contract.

Commissioner Jeff Jacques motioned to accept the subcommittee’s recommendation and that was seconded by Commissioners Robert Franklin and Eddie Wester.

Franklin County Commissioners then voted unanimously to hire Samuels for another year.