Cleveland's law department seeks to add 20 positions

Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb is looking to strengthen the city’s law department by seeking 20 additional staff members compared to where it stood at the end of 2021.

According to Law Director Mark Griffin, 10 budgeted positions went unfilled last year. Griffin wants to add 10 additional positions to strengthen code enforcement, the prosecutor’s office and to cut down on the city’s use of outside counsel.

“In 2021, we had the highest number of felony charges issued on record and yet we’re down a position,” Griffin told city council during a budget hearing Wednesday. “They’re working hard, incredibly dedicated.”

Griffin said Cuyahoga County is also asking for a city prosecutor to work overnights at the jail once a central booking system is set up there. The goal is to help move people arrested for misdemeanors out of jail more quickly.

“At this time, we don’t have the people to cover that,” Griffin said.

He added, high turnover at the prosecutor’s office is partly due to low salaries.

Councilman Kerry McCormack applauded the administration’s decision to make jobs at the department more appealing.

“I’ve had a lot of conversations with employees of the law department, and I’m choosing my words carefully here,” McCormack said. “This department has negligently underfunded its employees. Hard stop.”

The law department is also responsible for filling public records requests. Last year, the city received about 36,000 records requests, up from about 15,000 in 2018, Griffin said. The city recently established a website for submitting public records requests.

“We’re going to have at least one staff who will focus on media requests,” Griffin said. “We call this the Ed Gallek position.”

Gallek is a reporter with the Fox 8 I-Team who frequently publishes stories on Cleveland government based on public records released by the city.

The Bibb administration is also proposing a new ethics officer in the law department, who will work with city staff and council to provide guidance on issues like conflicts of interest and improper gifts or favors.

Council members appeared supportive of the department’s increased budget. Several members focused on the time it takes for housing code criminal violations to go from the law department to housing court.

“It’s important that we have the most aggressive, and I mean aggressive attorneys working on housing cases,” Councilman Mike Polensek said.

The plan is to add two attorneys for housing cases, Griffin said, but he added the goal is to solve problems without bringing criminal cases to housing court.

City council will begin considering changes to the mayor’s proposed budget next week.

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