City Attorney's Office

Mission

The Mission of the City Attorney's Office is to provide high quality legal assistance to the City Council, Administration and all of the various City departments.

This includes the following:

• Answering inquiries from all boards and commissions and members of the public.
• Providing legal assistance in the formulation of the various programs proposed to avoid future legal difficulties and to make the ultimate program feasible from all points of view.
• Drafting all legal documents as necessary in the conduct of City business and affairs.
• Conducting or supervising all litigation involving the City as a plaintiff or defendant, representing the City's interest in litigation involving others, and appearing before legislative or administrative bodies considering matters of interest to the City.
• Prosecuting all alleged commission of state and local misdemeanors occurring within the City.

To accomplish its mission, the City Attorney's Office is comprised of two sections: Civil and Criminal.

Civil Section

The Civil Section is responsible for the following.

• Drafting all contracts, leases, notices, deeds, and ordinances, resolutions and other documents.
• Advising City agencies, boards and commissions.
• Filing and defending all civil suits.
• Providing legal services in specialized areas such as redevelopment, personnel, including labor relations, purchasing and government contracts, as well as all other areas of law involved in the operations of the City and its related organizations.

Criminal Division

The Criminal Division is responsible for prosecuting all state and local misdemeanor violations occurring within the City, including the filing of complaints, coordinating discovery request, responding to evidentiary suppression motions, and conducting pre-trial negotiations, court and jury trials, and appeals to the Superior Court.