Garfield County appoints new Deputy County Attorney

Tari Williams also to serve as Acting County Attorney

PRESS RELEASE
May 5, 2015

GARFIELD COUNTY, CO – Garfield County Commissioners voted today to promote Assistant County Attorney Tari Williams to the position of Deputy County Attorney. In addition to her new role, Williams will serve as Acting County Attorney for a term yet to be determined. The appointments follow the retirement of Garfield County Attorney Frank Hutfless last week. Williams will report directly to the Board of County Commissioners.

Williams will begin her new roles by meeting with the commissioners to ensure their priorities are addressed, and to prepare for weekly legal matters that come before the board in its regular meetings. In addition, she will reach out to the other elected officials, the county manager and the administrative departments to prioritize their projects. She is assessing how to best organize the current office staff to manage the office’s legal workload, without interruption in the continuity of legal operations.

Williams has worked for the Garfield County Attorney’s Office for three years. Before working for the county, she had worked for the 9th Judicial District Attorney’s Office as a deputy district attorney and as general counsel for the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority. She also managed commercial litigation nationally for Snap-on, Inc., and had worked as a business litigation partner for a national full service law firm in Dallas, TX, for 12 years before moving to Garfield County. She is licensed to practice law in Colorado, Texas and California.

“I am very excited to be serving Garfield County in a more advanced capacity, and am confident that we can continue to represent the legal interests of the county with our current professional legal staff,” said Williams. “I will focus on the basics of what a county law office does to meet the needs of county elected officials, administration and departments, in accordance with applicable law.”

Williams began her new roles upon the vote of the commissioners to appoint her in Tuesday’s Board of County Commissioners meeting.

“Tari offers first class counsel,” said Commission Chair John Martin. “She worked under the tutelage of the previous County Attorney, and has good talents, good skills, and is an ‘all-around good Joe’.”