Source: Tulsa World, Okla.迷你倉庫Aug. 15--Cuts to the city's Legal Department budget have left it with $15,953 this fiscal year to cover the costs of depositions, expert witnesses, independent medical exams, transcripts, court fees and other litigation expenses, city records indicate.Last year, the department's budget for litigation expenses was $252,396 -- including $125,000 in one-time funding, city officials said.Meanwhile, the department's travel and training budget sits at $1,536, potentially leaving the city scrambling to pay for the travel expenses of expert witnesses and others needed to testify in any of the city's more than 200 pending cases.City Attorney David O'Meilia declined to comment Tuesday when asked whether the lack of litigation expenses is hindering his department's ability to try cases.More than two-thirds of the department's $3.3 million budget goes to salaries.The Legal Department was one of several departments that took 3 percent cuts in fiscal 2014. It also lost $27,000 it had requested for travel and training and $100,000 for outside legal council under a $3.2 million budget amendment.The bulk of the amendment -- $1.9 million for police staffing increases -- came from a proposal by Councilors G.T. Bynum and Karen Gilbert to add a second police academy this fiscal year and hire 16 civilians to move sworn officers from desk work to the field.The council also chose to give the City Attorney's Office only half of the $250,000 it had hoped to recoup from the city's trash board for services the department provided to the board in 2010.Mayor Dewey Bartlett said that unfortunately the council's budget amendment had the effect he'd warned against.The budget amendment "ends up hurting because money was taken away from departments -- the Legal Department, for example -- that need it to do their jobs," Bartlett said.He said he plans to sit down with the council to address the issue as soon as possible."Because we must obviously defend the city, and the Legal Department must have the tools to do a good job," Bartlett said.Bartlett said he has worked to fully staff the department and changed city policy to ensure that lawsuits are more aggressively defended, leading to fewer judgments against the city.The city is defending itself in at least 12 civil suits filed by people who claim that they were victimized by police corruption, which was the subject of a grand jury probe into the Tulsa Police Department.The investigation resulted in charges against s儲存x current or former Tulsa police officers and an ex-federal agent, as well as accusations of criminal behavior against five officers who were never charged.Attorney Clark Brewster is donating his law firm's services to defend the city in civil cases related to the corruption investigation. Brewster's litigation expenses are covered under a contract with the city and are not paid out of the Legal Department's litigation expense fund.The city recently agreed to settle a police corruption-related lawsuit for $50,000.Demario T. Harris' life sentence was vacated as a result of the police scandal.Harris, 33, filed his lawsuit on Aug. 4, 2011. He had been convicted in Tulsa federal court in April 2005 of possession of cocaine base with intent to distribute and being a felon in possession of a firearm.He was sentenced in November 2005 to life in prison but was ordered freed in October 2010. The order vacating his sentence notes that the prosecution conceded that Harris' "conviction was obtained in violation of the defendant's due process rights."City of Tulsa Litigation Division Manager Gerald Bender said at the time that the choice to settle the case was a "business decision" that was made by evaluating the lawsuit and what it would cost to defend it.Council Chairman David Patrick said he warned councilors during their discussions of the trash board payment that the Legal Department needed the full $250,000 and would likely be returning for more money if it did not receive that amount."If they bring a budget amendment down, I will sure do my best to put it forward," he said. "I don't want to lose a case because we don't have a few bucks to put in the pot.Bynum said the council faces a conundrum each year when evaluating department budget presentations."There is no way to pay for all of the worst-case scenarios in the beginning of the year, but as we go through the year, we should be in a position" to address those, he said.Bynum added that the council will always work to provide the resources needed to defend the city of Tulsa in any litigation."So if the Legal Department has particular needs that aren't projected -- but actual (current) needs -- then I would hope they would bring them to the council and mayor so we can find a way to address them," Bynum said.Kevin Canfield 918-581-8313kevin.canfield@tulsaworld.comCopyright: ___ (c)2013 Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) Visit Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) at .tulsaworld.com Distributed by MCT Information Services新蒲崗迷你倉
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