AH council moves public defender amendment forward

At its Nov. 14 study session, the Airway Heights City Council moved several items forward to its next meeting.

One was an amendment of public defender professional service contract with Maurer Law.

The amendment proposes to increase the contract from $4,000 to $4,833 per month.

City Manager Albert Tripp gave two reasons for the recommendation. One was because of the increase in the city’s caseload activity.

In 2014, the city entered into an interlocal agreement with the Kalispel Tribe for them to send defendants to Airway Heights Municipal Court. The city’s caseload grew 7 percent in 2014 and...