ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, November 5, 1996 TAG: 9611050059
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA
The Montgomery County commonwealth's attorney has agreed to settle out of court after suing the state for an additional secretary and a raise for one of his assistant attorneys.
Prosecutor Phil Keith said Monday that he compromised with the State Compensation Board to give up his request for an additional secretary in exchange for getting Peggy Frank a $6,387 raise.
"It was important to me to get her compensated for all the work she does," Keith said.
Frank, one of two assistant commonwealth's attorneys in the office, was also promoted from Attorney I status to Attorney II. Keith said that means he was able to skip Frank past 16 "steps" contained within the Attorney I grade and get her on a higher salary track.
As of Aug. 30, Frank's annual salary increased from $32,749 to $39,136 - a jump of about 20 percent. Keith's office gets all its funding from the state without any support from the county
Keith said his office budget is funded entirely by the Compensation Board, but this is the first time he felt he needed to sue the board to get more money.
He said the extra secretarial position is still needed and he will request it again next year. There are two secretaries in the office.
The additional secretary would have helped Montgomery County combat an ever-increasing caseload that recently caused such a backlog that a meeting was held with local law enforcement leaders and Circuit Judge Ray Grubbs to discuss the problem.
Keith said more than one proposal for change came out of the meeting held in early September. Grubbs is considering the options and may announce some changes in court date scheduling as early as next month or early January, Keith said.
LENGTH: Short : 42 linesby CNB