Attorney Blake Teller was the unanimous choice of Warren County supervisors Thursday to take over legal work for the county, though county officials stressed he won’t take over immediately in the highest-profile cases involving the public purse.

Teller, 48, was admitted to the state bar in 1991 and has worked more extensively on the civil side of the circuit court docket. Supervisors chose Teller from six other applicants, among them, in alphabetical order, A.J. “Buddy” Dees, Chris Graves, Ken Harper, Ricky Johnson, Ken Rector and Branan Southerland.

“We liked the way he presented himself,” Board President Bill Lauderdale said after a two-hour closed session where all seven interviewed.

Lauderdale and District 5 Supervisor Richard George, who offered the motion for Teller, said former board attorney Marcie Southerland would continue to represent the county for the time being in ongoing civil litigation in Hinds County involving jailed ex-circuit clerk Shelly Ashley-Palmertree. Southerland was hired Nov. 10 as an assistant in District Attorney Ricky Smith’s office.

“As much background as Miss Southerland has put in it, she would be the one (on the case),” George said, adding state law would permit the board to keep Southerland on the civil matter up to six months.

Each except Graves, who is a tax attorney and sports agent, could claim experience near or in government, or in the courthouse. Dees has been a lead voice for those who favor a public walkway on the old U.S. 80 bridge. Harper is a former state senator and longtime lawyer, while Johnson is the county prosecutor, in charge of misdemeanor cases. Rector, mainly a civil attorney, defended the county in a civil case in federal court involving hunting property near Eagle Lake that lasted five years. Southerland, Marcie’s son, shares a practice with his mother and would have worked in the same office where the past 2 ½ years worth of county-related legal files have been stored.

The position of county attorney is one of 10 so-called “will-and-pleasure” positions that supervisors may consider at any time. Most reappointments and new appointments coincide with the first meeting of a calendar year. Though state law allows counties to pay attorneys as employees, Warren County has left its subcontractor-style arrangement alone. Southerland, who had filled the role since January 2012, and predecessor Randy Sherard worked under contracts that stipulated $150 hourly rates.

The board’s vote Thursday keeps the current pay structure for legal work intact. Most significant on the county’s busy legal schedule, aside from the case with Palmertree, includes unpaid settlements and restitution from the past two circuit clerk administrations and a property tax appeal from Riverwalk Casino.

Testimony in the Palmertree matter is expected to pick up again in January. The State Auditor’s Office and the county have argued the former clerk, jailed in September for embezzlement, should pay back more than $1.04 million in questioned salary and contractor payments. The county has spent more than $100,000 to defend itself in the case, according to invoices filed since August 2013. That total is separate from the contract rate for routine legal work.