Citing the "paltry compensation" and "uncompensated headaches" that his office gets, the Kane County attorney withdrew from the election shortly before Tuesday's voting.

Todd Macfarlane, appointed last December to fill the position vacated by Jim Scarth, wrote a scathing letter to the County Com-mis-sion announcing the withdrawal. He noted that he will continue to serve until his term expires on Jan. 1.At that time, the Kane County Commission will have to appoint its third county attorney in a little over a year.

In December 1993, the county commission named Macfarlane, an attorney from Kanab, to fill the attorney's position. Scarth resigned and agreed to seek medical attention in the wake of three alcohol-related arrests.

County Clerk Karla Johnson said on Tuesday that Macfarlane was unopposed on the ballot. With his withdrawal, a new county attorney must be appointed when his term ends.

Asked what would happen if someone garnered some write-in votes in the election, she said that wouldn't matter.

"They must file by the second of November or they're not a legal write-in, and no one has filed," Johnson said in a telephone interview.

"So that will mean that the position is vacant on Jan. 1, and the commission will appoint" a successor.

Macfarlane told the Deseret News that he is concerned that his withdrawal is being construed as a resignation from the office. "I am not resigning. I intend to fill and complete that term," he said.

The decision also has nothing to do with an inquiry he carried out concerning the Kane County sheriff's race, he said. He sent information about the inquiry to Scott Burns, the Iron County attorney, for a recommendation.

"That's where it stands right now," he said of the inquiry. "I will be making a decision after I get Scott Burns' recommendation."

So what were the issues that caused him to withdraw? "It had more to do with compensation. The bottom line is, this is considered a part-time job. To put it in a nutshell, they consider it a part-time job with part-time compensation," but the county attorney case load is so heavy that it demands much more work than that.

The case load doubled this year, according to the attorney. He works on the job full-time to the neglect of his private practice, he said.

Macfarlane said he wanted to continue working part-time, and handling his private law practice on a part-time basis, but with a part-time deputy county attorney. But the County Commissioners wouldn't agree to that, he said.

"They said they didn't intend to do that. They said they intended to make it (the county attorney's job) a full-time position and increase the compensation slightly."

In his letter to the commission, dated Oct. 31, Macraflane wrote, "After several years of steady increases, the criminal case load of the Kane County attorney's office has increased dramatically in the past year . . .

"For the past six months, I have devoted an average of 40-plus hours to county work each week." He has hired at his own expense another attorney who had devoted an average of 20 to 30 hours a week on county work.

"Because of the increase in clerical duties, I have also hired, at my own expense, a high-school girl on a part-time basis, to assist other staff in their clerical duties so that they would not need to put in as much overtime, including work at home."

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He warned the commissioners that they should be prepared to purchase some office supplies for the county attorney. "Please remember that while I have been in office, the main office computer, printer, fax machine and telephone system belong to me, and I have donated their use to the county, at no expense.

"I will be taking those items, along with any others that I have provided," Macfarlane noted.

As a parting shot, he noted that "some or all of the commissioners were often not interested in a qualified legal opinion."

But making decisions without at least being fully advised of possible legal consequences "is bad business and subjects the county to serious potential liability," he wrote.

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