REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
September 23, 2025
FROM
TOM BUNTON, County Counsel
SUBJECT
Title
Purchase Order with Miller Barondess, LLP for Specialized Legal Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Authorize the Purchasing Agent to increase Purchase Order No. 4100423139 with Miller Barondess, LLP by $1,500,000, from $200,000 to a not-to-exceed amount of $1,700,000, to continue specialized legal services in connection with the federal court action titled Marlon Johnson, et al. v. County of San Bernardino, et al. (Four votes required).
(Presenter: Tom Bunton, County Counsel, 387-5455)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of additional Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). Sufficient appropriation has been included in the 2025-26 marlLitigation budget (1340001000) and will be included in future recommended budgets, as necessary.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Johnson v. County of San Bernardino is a class action case. Plaintiffs allege the County did not change its strip search practices after the prior lawsuit that concluded in 2008. There are 7 plaintiffs. Trial is scheduled for September 25, 2025.
On May 29, 2025, the Purchasing Department approved Purchase Order No. (PO) 4100414413 in the amount of $20,000 to retain Miller Barondess LLP to provide specialized legal services. PO 4100414413 has been fully expended. On July 21, 2025, Purchasing approved a new PO 4100423139 with Miller Barondess LLP in the amount of $200,000. This second purchase order has also been fully expended. Outside counsel projects costs for this matter will be approximately $1,500,000 through the end of the fiscal year 2025-26.
Pursuant to Title 1, Division 2, Chapter 19, section 12.1908 of the County Code and County Policy 11-04, County Counsel is authorized to select and retain, through a Purchase Order, specialized legal counsel for a particular matter not-to-exceed $200,000 per fiscal year. Contracts for specialized legal services in excess of $200,000 per fiscal year require four votes approval from the Board of Supervisors per Government Code section 25203.
Approval of this item will increase PO 4100423139 by $1,500,000 and allow the County to continue to utilize Miller Barondess LLP for the specialized legal services in the Action.
PROCUREMENT
Not applicable.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Laura Feingold, Chief Assistant County Counsel, 387-5455) on August 18, 2025; Risk Management (Gregory Ustaszewski, Staff Analyst, 386-9008) on August 20, 2025; Purchasing (Jessica Barajas, Supervising Buyer, 387-2065) on August 20, 2025; and County Finance and Administration (Penelope Chang, Principal Administrative Analyst, 387-4886) on August 22, 2025.