Erlanger contracts a paralegal through city attorney to handle surge in open‑records requests, officials say

City leaders told the council April 7 they have engaged an outside paralegal through the city attorney’s office to help process a surge in open‑records requests.

The mayor and city staff said the arrangement is month‑to‑month, is capped at $1,500 per month and does not bill attorney time beyond the city’s normal flat fee. Jack (the city attorney) told council that Becky Weller, a paralegal with roughly 30 years of litigation support experience, will handle discovery, redaction and compilation work to speed responses and reduce workload on city staff.

Council members pressed for numbers and alternatives. Ms. Nicely asked whether the city was billing at an hourly rate and whether it would be cheaper to hire a part‑time city employee; city counsel said the contract rate is reduced and that the first month did not reach the $1,500 cap. Staff noted the arrangement can be more efficient because the paralegal is dedicated to records work and not juggling multiple city responsibilities.

Council members and staff also discussed the technology and labor intensity of open‑records requests. Officials said some open‑records PDFs can be very large and that extracting emails and attachments is time‑consuming; staff are piloting JustFOIA and compiling request history to better measure workload.

At the meeting the open‑records task force reported a marked increase in volume: staff said Erlanger had fewer than 100 requests in 2018 and is on track for more than 600 this year, a change that officials cited as the primary driver of the temporary contract. Council directed staff to continue monitoring request volume and report data to the council so options for cost and staffing can be evaluated.

The council did not vote on personnel changes or permanent hiring during the session; the paralegal contract was described as an experiment to relieve immediate workload pressures.