D.A. Drops Request for Fees

Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas on Friday withdrew a request asking the Board of Supervisors to pay $50,000 to a law firm that helped him respond to a critical grand jury report after the county CEO opposed the request.

County Executive Officer Michael Schumacher was not available Friday to elaborate on his reasons for red-flagging the item. But Diane Thomas, a county spokeswoman, said the district attorney’s office did not follow county procedure when it retained the law firm of Morrison and Foerster to help Rackauckas formulate a rebuttal to the June report by the Orange County Grand Jury.

That report faulted Rackauckas for allegedly intervening in cases involving campaign supporters, misusing office resources and hiring relatives of political allies instead of more qualified applicants.

Nearly any time an outside law firm is hired, the requesting agency must go through the county counsel’s office, which presents the proposal to supervisors, Thomas said. The board “has sole authority to select outside legal counsel,” she said.

A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office declined to comment Friday.

Rackauckas hired Morrison and Foerster to help him draft a response to the 92 findings and 64 recommendations in the grand jury’s report.

Rackauckas said the report was inaccurate and one-sided and that the panel was unduly influenced by his political enemies. His reply ran more than 100 pages.

The legal fees issue comes as the Orange County auditor-controller’s office is examining a special district attorney’s office fund that came under scrutiny in the grand jury report.

The panel accused the office of misusing the fund to entertain politicians, lobbyists and others.

Todd Spitzer, who stepped down last month from the Board of Supervisors, had criticized the office for using the money to buy alcohol, which he said was a violation of county policy.

Rackauckas also came under fire from California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, whose office helped the grand jury with its probe.

Thomas said Friday that Schumacher’s decision to oppose Rackauckas’ request to pay the attorney fees was a “procedural issue” and “had nothing to do with the way the D.A.’ s office runs its shop.”

Board Chairwoman Cynthia P. Coad on Friday would not say whether she supported Rackauckas’ request. But she noted that the board hired its own outside lawyers to sort out the grand jury report.

It is common for branches of county government to turn to outside legal counsel when dealing with unusual cases. Rackauckas was required by law to respond to the grand jury.

But John Oetken, co-director of Common Cause Orange County, said that because Rackauckas is an attorney, he should have been able to write the response. “I don’t think he should use taxpayer money,” he said.