Upon the recommendation of the Attorney General, the sheriff of any county shall have the authority to employ an attorney to represent the sheriff and the office of the sheriff in the performance of the official duties of that office. The authority to employ an attorney shall be limited to those situations or cases where the district attorney of the same county as the sheriff has been disqualified or removed from the case. The fees for employing an attorney may be paid from unrestricted funds within the budget of the sheriff or the sheriff may request that the budget authority of the county appropriate funds from the county general fund, if such funds are available, for the purpose of paying such fees.