The Mower County Attorney’s Office is about to get a little more help.

The county board unanimously voted to approve the hire of an additional legal assistant, which should cost about $50,000 a year, and an additional $5,000, for supplies at its regular Tuesday meeting.

The move comes as the office and other county departments prepare for the added workload of Christa Daily starting next month as the third chambered judge in Mower County.

Daily, a public defender and former assistant Mower County attorney, was appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton last month.

Daily will fill a former Second Judicial District that the Minnesota Supreme Court moved to Mower County due the Third Judicial District’s high case load and need for judges.

Chief Third Judicial District Judge Jeffrey Thompson called it an unprecedented action to move the seat from the Second Judicial District to the Third Judicial District, but he said it will be great for a district that was once under-judged by two positions.

Since Mower County Judges Jeffrey Kritzer and Kevin Siefken took the bench in June 2014, the judge need hasn’t dropped below 2.7 for a quarter, and it’s often been as high as three judges.

However, the third judge will make for additional workloads for the county attorney’s and other offices like court administration.

The county attorney’s office’s workload has also seen an uptick in data entry from the switch to electronic filing of court documents and paperless court records.