Will hefty monthly retainers for school attorneys disappear?
Tue, 2016-07-05 21:04
News Staff
New AG ruling
By G. Romero Wendorf
Donna ISD’s attorney, Robert J. Salinas, receives a monthly retainer of $25,000. He receives that payment each and every month even if he doesn’t get out of bed in the morning. If he does crawl out of the sack and does some work for the district, his hourly rate of $225 then kicks into gear; and that’s on top of the hefty retainer.
With the retainer and hourly rates, Salinas’s legal invoices to Donna ISD currently range anywhere between $30,000 to $40,000, based on school records.
Previous attempts by The Advance News Journal to contact Salinas and Board President Albert Sandoval this year to discuss Donna ISD’s legal billings have proven unsuccessful.
Moving forward, the days of school districts and/or cities handing out hefty monthly retainers to attorneys may be on the wane, thanks to a recent opinion handed down by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Last month, Paxton rendered an opinion – KP-0099 – that will presumably offer some ammo for those who disagree with tax dollars being spent on legal retainers and/or flat fees for