Rock County attorney reports 2015 activities, discusses,

In each of the state’s 87 counties, a county attorney is elected every four years to handle the county’s criminal and civil legal responsibilities on behalf of the citizens who elected him or her into office.
Rock County’s county attorney office has had the same person since July 1987.
Don Klosterbuer is serving his eighth term and is currently beginning the second year of his current four-year term.
At the Jan. 19 County Board, Klosterbuer along with assistant attorney Jeff Haubrich outlined their current workload and transition plans in case Klosterbuer decides not to seek re-election.
“We know we need to develop a plan long enough ahead,” he said. “… because it is not a case where you hire someone and day one they can start. So we have to talk about phasing that in.”
For 2016 commissioners allocated $193,309 for the county attorney budget to carry out duties according to state statute.
Among the duties are prosecuting adult and juvenile offenders, offering civil and litigation advice to county officials, initiating CHIPS (child in need of protection or services) as well as assisting the Sheriff’s Office with victims and witnesses.
In 2015 Klosterbuer and Haubrich handled 144 cases including 89 adult, 28 juvenile, six new CHIPS files (with 18 ongoing cases), five commitments (with three ongoing), and 16 child support cases (along with 30 currently open.)
Also for this year, the County Attorney’s office assisted with 157 easements associated with the Rock County Rural Water System project. The office also collaborated with other agencies in the Minnesota Cornerstone Drug Court program.
Through the years, however, no exact timeframe has been developed on how much time the county attorney’s office spends on a particular case.
“Some of these cases are resolved quickly, some cases have contested omnibus issues, etc. and drag on,” Haubrich said. “It has changed dramatically over the years.”
As an example, Klosterbuer added driving while intoxicated cases used to have one court appearance. Today, DWI cases can have two or three, he said.
Haubrich has served as assistant county attorney for 15 years.
Klosterbuer said his office would continue discussions as to how to best fulfill county attorney’s responsibilities and duties.
“The goal is to try and perpetuate a similar agreement as we have now,” he said.