FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 29, 2020
County Attorney Austin Ryan Rawls announced the proposed annual budget of the County Attorney's Office. The proposed budget has been submitted to the County Judge for inclusion in the FYE 2021 Proposed County Budget.
This year's budget asks taxpayers for $14,583.00 less than the previous year's budget. Specifically, the County Attorney asked for a reduction to his salary and to cut other lines of last year's numbers.
The County Attorney's proposed budget also includes more than $36,000.00 in anticipated revenue that can be used to reimburse the County for tax dollars spent. Mr. Rawls's private practice will reimburse the County approximately $19,000.00 for use of a shared assistant while the Pre-Trial Intervention Program is anticipated to contribute close to $17,000.00 of the County Attorney Assistant's annual hourly salary.
As part of the overall budget, Mr. Rawls is requesting an increase to the office stipend, bringing the total amount to $12,000.00 for the next fiscal year, which begins October 1, 2020 and ends September 30, 2021. When the Commissioners Court voted in 2019 to move the County Attorney's Office to the County Attorney's private practice, it eliminated several other budgetary line items and created an office stipend for shared office expenses. This arrangement saves taxpayer resources and eliminates waste.
Submitting a proposed budget is just the first step of each year's Budgetary Process. Now that the department budget has been proposed, the County Judge will combine this information with other proposed department budgets to draft the FYE 2021 Proposed County Budget. Each year's Proposed County Budget is debated, amended, set for public comment, and eventually set for a recorded vote by the Commissioners Court.
Citizens can follow this process and stay informed of public hearings by visiting the County website at www.CO.Crane.TX.US. Information for the County Attorney's Office can be found at www.CraneCountyAttorney.com.