A. SOLICITOR.
The Solicitor shall be the head of the Department of Law and shall be appointed by the Mayor with the concurrence of a majority of the members elected and appointed to Council. The Solicitor shall be an attorney-at-law, admitted to the practice of law in the State of Ohio. The Solicitor shall be the legal advisor of and attorney and counsel for the Municipality and for all officers and divisions thereof in all matters relating to their official duties, and shall, when requested, give legal opinions in writing. The Solicitor shall represent the Municipality in all suits or cases in which it may be a party and shall prosecute all offenses against the ordinances of the Municipality and such offenses against the laws of Ohio as may be required. The Solicitor shall on request of the Council prepare contracts, legislation, bonds and other instruments in writing in which the Municipality is concerned, and shall endorse on each approval of the form and corrections thereof.
The Solicitor shall make necessary editorial corrections and changes in the form of the Charter, but such changes shall relate to matters of form only, shall in all cases be approved by resolution of Council and shall in no event affect the construction, meaning, substance or intent of the Charter as adopted and amended by the people.
(a) The Solicitor shall correct obvious misspellings and typographical errors.
(b) The Solicitor 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.
(c) The Solicitor may renumber the sections and rearrange their order to provide:
(1) More coherent grouping of sections related in subject matter, and
(2) Continuous, consecutive numbers of sections.
(d) Upon the adoption of any Charter amendment that creates or abolishes an office or offices or changes the powers or duties of any officer or agency of the Municipality, the Solicitor 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 abolished or the title of the officer or agency no longer having such powers or duties and inserting therein, 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.
The Solicitor shall perform such other duties as the Mayor or Council may impose consistent with the office.
At such times that an assistant and/or special counsel to the Solicitor is deemed necessary by the Mayor, Council shall provide for their services. The Solicitor and any assistants or special counsel need not reside in the Municipality.
(Amended November 8, 2016)