The Dawson County Board of Commissioners voted 4-0 to approve a request for increased legal funding for 2019. The request was for an additional $250,000, bringing the total 2019 budget up to $410,413. According to the official request, the reason for the drastic increase is an “increased need for legal services, as well as costs for clearing up outstanding issues.” District 2 Commissioner Chris Gaines said Monday morning that “there were a lot of transition costs” at the beginning of the year as the county moved from in-house counsel Monroe Lynn Frey III to utilizing the firm Jarrard & Davis. The Board of Commissioners voted 3-1 to hire Frey in 2017. According to reports at the time, the three commissioners who voted to approve the motion did so in an attempt to lessen the amount of money the county was paying in legal fees. The 2017 budget for legal fees was around $232,000.