(A) Appointment of attorney. The Attorney shall be appointed by the Mayor, by and with the advice and consent of the City Council for the term of one year, unless sooner removed for cause, and until a successor shall have been appointed and qualified. The Attorney shall have full charge of the law affairs of the city and shall be known as the City Attorney and shall receive reasonable fees for services rendered when, in his or her judgment or in the judgment of the Mayor or City Council, the same are necessary or are for the best interests of the city. (See 65 ILCS 5/3.1-30-5.)
(Prior Code, § 1-2-98)
(B) Duties.
(1) Prosecute for city. The City Attorney shall prosecute or defend on behalf of the city in all cases in which the interests of the corporation or any officer thereof are involved, and the City Clerk shall furnish him or her with certified copies of any ordinance, bond, or paper in keeping necessary to be filed or used in any suit or proceedings.
(2) Preparation of ordinances. The Attorney shall, when required, advise the City Council or any officer in all matters of law in which the interests of the corporation are involved and shall draw such ordinances, bonds, forms, and contracts or examine and pass upon the same, as may be required by the Mayor, the City Council, or any committee thereof.
(3) Judgments. The Attorney shall direct executions to be issued upon all judgments recovered in favor of the city and shall direct their prompt service. The Attorney shall examine all the bills of the officers of courts and of other officers of the law and shall certify to their correctness and the liability of the city therefor.
(4) Violations of ordinances. The Attorney shall institute and prosecute an action in every case of violation of a city ordinance when instructed to do so by the Mayor or the City Council.
(5) Prosecution of suits. The Attorney shall not be required to prosecute any suit or action arising under the ordinances of the city when, upon investigation of the same, the Attorney shall become satisfied that the complaint was instituted maliciously, vexatiously, or without just cause and shall dismiss or discontinue any such suit or proceeding upon such terms as he or she may deem just or equitable.
(6) Commissions. The City Attorney shall act as the legal advisory for the utilities systems, for the Plan Commission, for the Zoning Board of Appeals, and for all other boards and commissions hereafter established by the City Council. The Attorney shall perform all legal services as may be required for those boards and commissions.
(Prior Code, § 1-2-99)
(C) Prosecutor’s fee.
(1) For each complaint that is prosecuted on behalf of the city to enforce the provisions of general ordinances of the city and also to enforce provisions of state statutes and statutes affecting the affairs of the city, there shall be added as costs to be assessed against the defendant in each case the sum of $25 to be known as the “City Prosecutor’s fee.”
(2) Upon said defendant being found guilty of the charges, as set up in the complaint that is filed on behalf of the city, in any of the two above-named situations, it shall be the duty of the court before whom such matter is heard to assess a City Prosecutor’s fee in the sum of $25, which shall be paid directly to the Prosecutor by the Clerk of the Circuit Court, and the fine or penalty, as assessed by the court for the violation of the complaint, shall be paid to the City Clerk.
(Prior Code, § 1-2-100)
Statutory reference:
Related provisions, see 65 ILCS 5/3.1-30-5