Without the authorization of the court of common pleas or the consent of the prosecuting attorney and without engaging in competitive bidding to obtain the legal services, any child support enforcement agency may employ, through its appointing authority, staff attorneys to advise, assist, and represent the agency in its performance of its functions pertaining to the enforcement of support orders. The option to employ the staff attorneys shall be in addition to any other options available to the agency to obtain necessary legal services in connection with its performance of its functions pertaining to the enforcement of support orders, including the use of legal services provided by the prosecuting attorney pursuant to contract or otherwise or the obtaining of legal services through a competitive bidding process.
R.C. § 3125.17