"We're absolutely committed to not paying any taxpayer money for this," Commissioner Phil Heimlich said in hiring Roger Makley as a defense lawyer.

Heimlich said commissioners are also committed to an independent attorney general's office investigation of the matter.

"That's the only way to find out what happened and prevent something like this from happening again," Heimlich said.

Assistant Prosecutor Rebecca Collins alleges in a federal lawsuit that Allen coerced her into a sexual relationship. Allen acknowledged a 31/2-year affair but denied any harassment.

Commissioners hired Makley, a former federal prosecutor, because the county was named as a co-defendant for not preventing the alleged harassment.

It's the latest instance of commissioners spending money on outside legal fees instead of relying on the prosecutor's office, which is supposed to represent the county's legal interests.

Allen is independently elected and cannot be removed by the commissioners, but two of the three commissioners voted to essentially tell Allen's office to keep hands off in August 2003.

Commissioners Heimlich and Todd Portune said Allen's office was uncooperative and often took weeks to respond to requests.

Since then, the county has paid local attorney Bill Markovits $71,619, according to the county auditor's office, to represent the commissioners on matters they didn't trust Allen's office to handle correctly. The county pays Markovits $175 an hour, in line with the $150 to $225 hourly fees it typically pays outside attorneys.

Markovits has become almost a shadow prosecutor in the year since he began working for the commissioners.

At their request, he will recommend new guidelines Monday on how outside legal counsel is hired and paid. Chief among the recommendations, Heimlich said, will be a process for allowing lawyers to compete for county work.

When Heimlich and Portune decided to take over a federal lawsuit against the Cincinnati Bengals in March, for instance, Markovits orchestrated the hiring of attorney Stanley Chesley to handle the case.

Chesley and co-counsel Robert Furnier and their firms agreed to take a quarter to a third of any settlement or award in the case instead of getting an hourly fee.

Allen's office had advised against suing the Bengals, and when the commissioners ignored that advice, sued in an attempt to stop the hiring of Chesley. The case is pending.

Allen has told commissioners that county taxpayers - not the commissioners themselves - are the prosecutor's clients.

"I will do whatever I think is in the best legal interest of Hamilton County," Allen told Heimlich and Portune in a March letter. "... I will not take instructions from you on how to carry out my duties."

Markovits is working with Makley in the county's defense of the sexual harassment suit against Allen. He said it's impossible to know how much money it will cost the county to fight the suit on behalf of county taxpayers. It largely depends on whether the case settles quickly or drags on.

Collins' suit, filed in U.S. District Court on Aug. 26, does not request a specific amount. Her attorneys sought $3 million to settle the allegations before filing the case on behalf of the former Enquirer employee.

County taxpayers might also have to pay for Allen's personal legal defense. The commissioners say they won't pay, but Allen is suing in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court to force them to pay.

Judge Thomas Crush will also decide whether the county can be held responsible for any damages Allen might be ordered to pay in the Collins case.

Heimlich and Portune want Allen to resign immediately. Allen said Monday that he would not seek re-election Nov. 2 but will finish his term, which ends Jan. 2, 2005.

---Reporter Sharon Coolidge contributed. E-mail candrews@enquirer.com