SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — More than an hour into the meeting, Woodbury County Supervisors addressed legal representation regarding Woodbury County’s new law enforcement center.

After several weeks of discussion, Supervisors unanimously approved John Templer of Whitfield and Eddy Law as legal representation in jail matters moving forward.

The law firm’s web page states that Templer is widely regarded as the Dean of Construction Law in Iowa.

Supervisors previously determined that separate representation outside that of the LEC Authority was needed. Board Chairman Matthew Ung says the hiring should help protect taxpayer interests.

“It’s something where we want to mitigate the public impact of these perceived conflicts. Whether they are actual or not, there is a perceived you know perceived issues in conflicts between the parties which I think are going to be alleviated by this move. We considered I would say approximately five to six law firms with interest and expertise on the issues,” Ung said.

Ung added that the hiring is meant to be a cooperative effort and that supervisors aren’t looking for anyone to be fired or quit before the project is complete.

The jail project is nearly $2 million over budget and perhaps seven months behind schedule.