There shall be a Director of Law who shall be the head of the Department of Law. Until the commencement of the term of the first Director of Law elected under this Charter, the City Solicitor elected at the November 1971 general Municipal election or any successor appointed to fill a vacancy in that office in the manner provided by general law shall continue to carry out the duties of that office. The office of City Solicitor shall be abolished by this Charter on December 31, 1975 at 11:59 p.m.
At the general Municipal election to be held in the year 1975 and every fourth (4th) year thereafter, the Director of Law shall be elected for a term of four (4) years. His term shall commence and he shall assume office, on the first day of January next following his election. He may be a candidate to succeed himself.
(a) Qualifications. The Director of Law shall be an attorney at law duly admitted to the practice of law in the State of Ohio. He shall have been a resident of the City of Barberton for at least one (1) year immediately prior to the last date on which his declaration of candidacy or nominating petition may be filed, and shall continue to be a qualified elector and resident during his term. During his said term of office he shall not hold any other public office except that of notary public or member of the State Militia or Reserve Corps of the Armed Forces of the United States.
(b) Removal. Council may remove the Director of Law from office for gross misconduct, or malfeasance, misfeasance or nonfeasance in or disqualification for office, or for conviction while in office for a crime involving moral turpitude, or if adjudicated legally incompetent, or for a violation of his oath of office or persistent failure to perform the duties of his office; provided, however, that such removal shall not take place without the affirmative vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the entire Council or until the accused Director of Law shall have been notified in writing of the charge or charges against him at least fifteen (15) days in advance of a public hearing upon such charge or charges and he or his counsel shall have been given an opportunity to be heard, present evidence, and examine, under oath, all witnesses appearing in support of such charge or charges.
(c) Powers and Duties. The Director of Law shall prepare all contracts, bonds, and other instruments in writing in which the City is concerned. He shall be the chief legal adviser of all offices, departments, commissions, boards, agencies, officers, and employees of the City in the matters relating to their official powers and duties. He shall represent the City in all legal proceedings and shall serve as Prosecuting Attorney of the Municipal Court. Further, it shall be his duty to perform all services incident to this office as may be required by statute, by this Charter, or by ordinance.
(d) Vacancy. In the event the office of the Director of Law shall become vacant for any cause or reason, the Mayor, with the approval of a majority of Council shall choose his successor to serve his unexpired term, or until the beginning of the term of a successor duly elected as provided in subsection (e) of this section.
(e) Election of Successor in the Event of Vacancy. In the event the office of Director of Law shall become vacant, a successor for the unexpired term shall be elected as Director of Law at a special election to be held on the day of the next general Municipal election, provided that: (1) such election shall occur more than two (2) years prior to the expiration of the unexpired term and (2) the vacancy shall have occurred more than one hundred twenty (120) days prior to such election. A successor who has become Director of Law pursuant to this section may be a candidate to succeed himself. In all other instances in which the office shall become vacant, the provisions of subsection (d) of this section shall apply.
In all other instances in which the office shall become vacant, the provisions of subsection (d) of this section shall apply.
(f) Charter Correction in Form Only. The Law Director shall be authorized to make typographical corrections to or changes or deletions in, as well as changes in the form of, the Charter; however, the changes shall relate to matters of form only. Any such modification, change, or correction shall, in all cases, be approved by resolution of Council, prior to going into effect. In no event shall any such modification, change, or correction affect the construction, meaning, substance, or intent of the Charter as adopted and amended by the people.
The Law Director may correct obvious misspellings and typographical errors.
The Law Director may divide the text of any section or paragraph into shorter paragraphs or subparagraphs and letter or number the same to improve clarity and ease of reference.
The Law Director may renumber the sections and rearrange their order to provide:
(1) More coherent grouping of sections related in subject matter; and
(2) Continuous, consecutive numbering of sections.
Upon the adoption of any amendment that creates or abolishes an office or offices or changes the powers or duties of any officer or agency of the City, the Law Director shall make necessary correlative changes in existing sections that refer to such offices, officers, or agencies by deleting therefrom, as the case may be, the name of the office created or the title of the officer or agency then having such powers or duties. (Nov, 5, 1985; Nov. 6, 1990; Nov. 7, 1995; Nov. 2, 2010)