MARSHALL — Starting in January, Marshall will be seeing some changes in a key city role. Earlier this month, the Marshall City Council voted to appoint a new city attorney.

Pam Whitmore of the law firm Kennedy & Graven was appointed as the next city attorney during the Marshall City Council’s Nov. 7 meeting for a two-year term. It will be the first time in 19 years that Marshall has had a change in city attorney.

However, the city is not ending its working relationship with current city attorney Dennis Simpson and assistant city attorney Matthew Gross. In addition to appointing Whitmore as city attorney, the Marshall council also approved agreements with Gross for criminal prosecution services, and with Simpson for legal services involving land use.

“Earlier this year, the council did authorize a request for proposals” for city attorney services, Marshall Mayor Bob Byrnes said at the Nov. 7 meeting. Under the Marshall city charter, every two years the mayor is required to recommend the city council appoint a city attorney.

Byrnes said the city received proposals from four law firms. A committee including city staff and council member John DeCramer reviewed the proposals, and interviewed three of the four firms, Byrnes said. The committee recommended splitting up the responsibilities of the city attorney into three different areas.

Marshall City Administrator Sharon Hanson said Kennedy & Graven is the largest law firm in Minnesota that primarily works with local governments. The city has worked with Kennedy & Graven in the past, on matters like bond counsel and assisting the Marshall Economic Development Authority, she said.

Whitmore is also the lead city attorney for the city of Mankato, and was previously the lead city attorney of Woodbury. Speaking over Zoom at the Nov. 7 council meeting, Whitmore said her experience before joining Kennedy & Graven included creating and running a conflict management program for the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust.

“I am looking forward to working with the City of Marshall, its exceptional staff and elected officials, and the other consultants and counsel supporting the city,” Whitmore told the Independent last week. “At Kennedy & Graven, we understand the importance of relationships with our clients, and, in fact, previously have served as special counsel to the city. I pride myself on being collaborative and responsive to help ensure the cities I work with feel supported, get answers, and work towards achieving their goals.”

Whitmore told council members she would attend one city council meeting in person each month. She also planned to spend the day of the council meeting working in Marshall.

“The recommendation from the mayor and the decision of the council surprised me,” Simpson said this week. The law firm of Quarnstrom & Doering in Marshall has had the Marshall city attorney contract since 1978, Simpson said.

Simpson served as assistant Marshall city attorney from 1984 to 2003, and has been the city attorney for the past 19 years. In addition to his work as assistant Marshall city attorney, Matthew Gross currently also serves as city attorney for several Marshall area cities, Simpson said.

Simpson said he would continue to serve in the role of designated special counsel for land use for the city.

“There will be a number of matters I will continue to be involved with,” Simpson said. Those include ongoing legal processes like the city working with Helena Agri-Enterprises to purchase property the business owns near Highway 19, abatement issues at the Broadmoor Valley manufactured home park, and city economic development work.

Simpson said a lot of his work as Marshall city attorney has involved real estate matters.

Hanson said Marshall has had a local city attorney for more than 30 years. But at times, Marshall has also hired other attorneys for specialized topics, like labor attorneys or bond counsel, she said.

However, Hanson said it’s also positive that the city of Marshall will continue to work with Simpson and Gross in the future, as well as Whitmore. Simpson and Gross have brought a lot of knowledge to their work, she said.

“He has done a tremendous amount of work this year,” Hanson said of Simpson.