Deschutes County paid outside attorneys $185,000 over and above the $585,000 settlement it reached in a wrongful termination lawsuit, Deputy County Counsel Mark Amberg said Monday.

In addition, Amberg estimated he spent 500 to 600 hours working on the case.

The case was a lawsuit filed by former county employee Tom Johnson. Amberg provided the figures in response to a public information request made by The Bulletin.

Commissioners Dennis Luke and Tom DeWolf, who voted in favor of the settlement on Aug. 3, addressed the legal expenditures on Monday.

”We didn’t have a choice,” said Commissioner Dennis Luke. ”When you get sued, you have to defend yourself.”

County Administrator Mike Maier said the case is an anomaly.

The majority of lawsuits filed against Deschutes County are handled in-house, by the county’s legal department, Maier said.

Johnson, who worked for the county’s parole and probation department, sued the county in 1999, alleging he was wrongfully fired after he complained about conditions in the Deschutes County Jail.

Johnson’s daughter, Ruth, had been impregnated after consensual sex with another inmate while serving time as in the jail, according to court records.

Tom Johnson was fired after a county investigation showed he had improperly used probationers under his charge to perform personal work for him.

County officials alleged the inmates worked on his recreational vehicle and at a cabin he owned in La Pine, according to court documents.

County officials had to hire outside legal help because Amberg was going to be called as a witness in the case, Luke and DeWolf said.

Most of the funds spent defending the case went to Portland trial attorney Bob Wagner, Amberg said.

DeWolf said he wished the county could have spent less money defending the case. He expressed frustration at an order signed by U.S. District Court Judge Michael Hogan preventing commissioners from discussing terms of the $585,000 settlement in the case.

”I guess my biggest problem is I’ve got a federal court order that stops me from defending myself,” DeWolf said.

Procedures have been put in place to help better train county managers in the wake of Johnson’s case, DeWolf added.

Instructors from Portland State University have been brought to Bend to train about 70 county supervisors in management techniques, DeWolf said.

Part of that training covers how to conduct performance evaluations – a valuable tool in case an internal investigation regarding an employment issue arises, he said.

Despite the size of the settlement and the amount of the legal fees, Maier said the county could be in a worse financial position.

That’s because county government operates under a self-funded insurance program in which separate county departments regularly put money into a fund that can be used to cover legal settlements.

The program supplants the need for paying outside insurance premiums, thereby saving money over time, Maier said.

Commissioner Mike Daly, who voted against the Johnson settlement, stood by his decision not to agree to the settle the case.

”I would have rather went to trial,” Daly said. ”We spent the $185,000 preparing to go to trial.”

Chris Barker can be reached at 541-617-7829 or at cbarker@bendbulletin.com.