Tuesday, November 02, 1999
Butler officials air dispute
Unit head critical of prosecutor
BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — The head of the Butler County Child Support Enforcement Agency (CSEA) says the county prosecutor's office has failed to give his agency the legal services he expects.
Despite receiving about $900,000 a year from the agency, the prosecutor's office has ignored requests for legal opinions, refused to send assistant prosecuting attorneys to agency staff meetings and training sessions, and refused to send monthly statistical reports on cases, said Daniel Cade, CSEA's executive director.
“We are paying out a lot of money, and I don't think we're receiving the services from the prosecutor's office that we should,” he said.
Mr. Cade has asked county commissioners for permission to hire his own staff of attorneys to handle civil cases. State law requires the prosecutor's office to handle all criminal actions.
He said an in-house legal staff would help the agency collect delinquent child support owed to Butler County families more quickly and efficiently. This could be done for about $400,000 less than the agency is paying the prosecutor's office, he said.
Prosecutor John Holcomb questioned the value of the services Mr. Cade complained his agency isn't receiving.
“There's no reason whatsoever why assistant prosecuting attorneys have to go to any of his goofy training sessions,” he said. “How is that going to help a prosecutor? Prosecutors are lawyers, not bureaucrats.”
Mr. Holcomb said Mr. Cade is unreasonable to expect the prosecutor's office to send him monthly statistical reports on child support cases it is handling.
“My lawyers are in court,” he said. “They don't have time to wrap up a lot of meaningless numbers and keep track of them. This is just a case of bureaucracy getting out of control.”
Mr. Holcomb said that if Mr. Cade wants legal opinions, he should send his written requests directly to him, “like the other Butler County officeholders do. Except he's not an officeholder, he's a bureaucrat.”
Mr. Cade said the staff meetings and training sessions would help his staff and the prosecutor's staff work together more effectively, and the monthly reports would help him see where his agency is improving and where it needs to improve.
“I look at that as accountability,” he said.
Under contract, CSEA reimburses the prosecutor's office $51.36 per hour. This includes work performed by assistant prosecuting attorneys and support staff.
The agency paid the prosecutor's office $862,382 last year and expects to pay $938,399 this year. The money comes from federal and county funds.
Last year, CSEA referred 1,302 cases to the prosecutor's office. Mr. Cade said the number of case referrals to the prosecutor has declined by 50 percent since 1996 because CSEA is using administrative remedies on more cases.
These cases include civil contempt, paternity questions and child support orders.
About 80 percent of the child support cases are civil and could be handled by CSEA's own attorneys, Mr. Cade said. He said his agency probably could do the work for about $500,000.
Mr. Holcomb disputed that and pointed out that Hamilton County CSEA still contracts with the prosecutor's office for civil cases. In Warren and Clermont counties, CSEA attorneys handle civil cases.
Mr. Holcomb said he resents Mr. Cade's demands.
“My arrangement always has been if they want to utilize my people, they have to let me do it in my own way,” Mr. Holcomb said. “I don't need some guy from Lima to come in here and tell me how to run my business.”
Before coming to Butler County in 1994, Mr. Cade worked in Allen County, whose seat is Lima.
Commissioners Mike Fox and Chuck Furmon say Mr. Cade's proposal is worth considering.
“We owe it to the taxpayers to make sure they're getting their money's worth,” Mr. Furmon said.
“When you have the prosecutor's office refusing to work cooperatively with the child support enforcement office, that's not a good thing for children and families,” Mr. Fox said.
He said the lack of cooperation could cause delays in families receiving the delinquent payments owed them.
Mr. Holcomb, who has been prosecutor since 1972 and is running for re-election next year, said the complaints about his office's relationship with CSEA have a political basis.
He said this issue surfaced within a week after The Cincinnati Enquirer published stories revealing that his employees donate 2 percent of their salaries to his campaign fund. Some ex-employees said they were pressured to do this.
“Do you think it's a coincidence that this is coming up at this time?” Mr. Holcomb said. “It's all a part of the election season.”
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