CANTON â The St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators is turning control of the county Department of Social Services legal office over to the county attorney.
The board voted 8-6 with one abstention Monday night. Legislator Margaret G. Haggard did not vote Monday night as her husband is the DSS general counsel.
The resolution states the reasons for consolidating the office are the assistance the county attorney has given the county Department of Social Services legal staff since December 2019, as well as a request for DSS General Counsel David A. Haggard for additional staff and increased pay.
The resolution calls for the abolishment of management positions in the DSS legal office and switching the social services attorney positions to assistant county attorneys and keeping in place support personnel to help the department resolve a backlog of cases.