Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory Chief Joel Shilling, right, welcomes Adam Turner, left as the territory’s new legal representation Tuesday. Turner replaces attorney Jack Birch, who is now the county’s public defender. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.

By David Slone
Times-Union

WARSAW — Attorney Adam Turner will serve as the new legal representation for the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory.

The fire territory’s board approved a contract with Turner Valentine LLC for legal representation of the territory for the remainder of 2025. The contract will still need approval by the Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety. Turner replaces Jack Birch, who resigned after being named the Kosciusko County public defender, effective July 1.

The unused retainer ($1,500) from Birch Kaufman LLC has been transferred to Turner Valentine LLC and will be applied toward services for the rest of 2025. The hourly rate for Turner Valentine LLC is $250, the same as Birch.

Fire Chief Joel Shilling said he worked with city attorney Scott Reust and Birch to find Birch’s replacement. “As far as the contract, Adam has agreed to the same terms that Jack agreed to. The unused retainer portion for half the year was submitted from Jack’s office to Turner Valentine,” Shilling said, adding Turner and Birch have looked over the contract and they told him that everything was OK.

Turner told the WWFT Board, “I think Jack was kind of the same way, it’s difficult to measure what work is involved and how much is demanded. So I think it’s fair and safe to say just kind of lock in the same contract that Jack had for this next year, and into next year we kind of talked about budgeting for next year and kind of keep those same terms, at least for this upcoming year, as well.”

He said there were no additional expenditures on the part of the entity, and Birch passed over the second half of the retainer to Turner’s office. It’s been documented and accounted for, Turner stated.

He said he will have his own agreement by the end of the year, but they would be substantially the same terms for 2026.

Councilman Mike Klondaris pointed out Turner will be the third attorney the board’s had in less than a year.

“Unfortunately, it’s just the reality of we have a lot of attorneys that are leaving private practice. We have a shortage of attorneys in the area, and that’s statewide, too. The state bar is talking about it frequently. A lot of people aging out, retiring, going into positions like Jack is taking,” Turner said.

While the nice part about having a private practice is setting one’s own schedule,  Turner said there’s benefits to being an employee of the county. Those benefits are “very enticing,” Turner said, and he understands that.

“So there’s less attorneys in practice, but these are areas that I’m very familiar with. I have not represented a fire territory before, so that will be somewhat of a learning curve,” he said.

Board member David Allbritten thanked Turner for what he was doing. Allbritten made a motion to approve the contract, Wayne Township Trustee Jeanie Stackhouse seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Shilling publicly thanked Birch for his time to the territory and welcomed Turner.

Shilling then presented a resolution to transfer $50,448.97 from FSSA Grant/C.A.R.E.S. to miscellaneous revenue — operating. He said the transfer from the grant was to reimburse the department for C.A.R.E.S. The board approved the resolution, which also will need approval by the Warsaw Common Council.

Among the nearly dozen travel requests presented by Shilling, and approved by the board, was for firefighter Aaron Bolinger to go to aircraft crash rescue training in Lexington, Ky., Nov. 2-7 for a cost of $2,230. Shilling said that was to assist the Warsaw Municipal Airport.

“Firefighter Bolinger will be aircraft rescue firefighter certified through the state of Indiana, which then he can hopefully bring it back and teach some stuff to us as well,” he said. Klondaris asked if anyone in the fire department was trained for an airplane crash rescue, and Shilling said they don’t have anyone.

“That’s one of the reasons we want Bolinger to go,” Shilling said, pointing out that the WWFT has to respond to all aircraft emergencies. He said he felt it was important for Bolinger to go to the training.

“It is an investment, but it’s in our coverage area and we have to respond to that. The more people we have equipped and ready and knowledgeable about the dangers and risks associated with aircraft, I think it’s very wise for us to send him.”

Allbritten said he looked at the course curriculum and it was “jam packed.”

The next meeting of the WWFT Board is 4 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 5 in the council chambers at city hall.