ESCANABA — Despite voting last month to postpone the hire of a municipal attorney until after a permanent county administrator is hired, the county moved forward and approved contracting with Attorney Scott Graham earlier this week.

“I will start this by saying the work that Lauren Wickman has been doing for us has been outstanding, and we are doing this not to get rid of Lauren Wickman’s office and the work that they’ve been doing, but simply to have another avenue should we need that,” said Delta County Board of Commissioners Chair Dave Moyle, referencing the work of the county’s prosecutor as the county’s legal counsel, during Tuesday’s regular commission meeting.

Graham was the only attorney to submit a proposal to the county for the position.

“He, in my opinion, is giving us an outstanding rate, $200 an hour, which for someone with that kind of pedigree is cheap,” said Moyle.

Tuesday’s bid opening was not the first time Graham had been a topic of discussion for the commission. He was Moyle’s initial suggestion for the position in March, and Moyle has confirmed that his family had been represented by Graham previously — a confirmation that raised criticism from some in the community who felt Moyle was unfairly seeking to employ a friend or associate.

Moyle has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Graham is perhaps most well-known for his defense of Kaleb Franks, one of a number of men charged for plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Moyle has repeatedly described Graham as the “most winningest” attorney in the Sixth Circuit and has stressed he wants a municipal attorney with experience in federal court. Graham’s qualifications as a municipal attorney have been questioned by residents, as his practice primarily focuses on criminal law, but his website does include “municipal litigation” as a practice area under civil litigation. The website does not indicate whether his clients have been municipalities or private citizens involved in litigation against local units of government.

“I think it’s a valuable option to have for us in the future — not for frivolous lawsuits. Nothing like that. If we have an issue that’s coming up, which they’re coming up, we have somebody that has some experience in this field that can give us opinions,” said Commissioner Bob Petersen prior to the vote to hire Graham.

While the commission has stated that Graham will only be used if Wickman is unable to provide services due to a conflict — and even then, only after a vote of the board — hiring an outside attorney at all has been a controversial move for the commission.

According to Wickman, the prosecutor’s office has represented the county for the past five years. In that time, only one conflict of interest has arisen that required to county to seek outside counsel. In that particular case, the county used an attorney hired through the Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority, the county’s insurance provider.

“My concern is by hiring somebody to cover these frivolous lawsuits that that MMRMA coverage would be negated and this county would be on the hook for thousands and thousands of dollars — not only in legal costs but in potential settlements,” said Wickman during the March 21 commission meeting.

Moyle, in particular, has been critical of MMRMA attorneys, stating they have other interests as they represented an insurance company and were more likely to settle. However, not all on the commission agree.

“I still think we put ourselves at risk that if we take him on and all of a sudden it costs the county taxpayers because if he loses and we get sued, it could cost the county a million dollars, or what we get sued, and MMRMA will not cover that,” said Commissioner John Malnar Tuesday.

When it came to a vote, Moyle, Petersen, and Commissioner Bob Barron voted in favor of hiring Graham. Malnar and Commissioner Steve Viau, who wanted more time to review Graham’s proposal, voted no.