(A) There is hereby established the office of City Attorney.
(B) The Board of Commissioners shall appoint a City Attorney who shall be the general law officer and legal counsel of the city. The Board may remove the City Attorney at will. They shall be an attorney licensed to practice in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. They shall be chosen solely on the basis of their legal qualifications, with special emphasis on actual experience in or knowledge of Kentucky municipal and administrative law. The City Attorney may also engage in the private practice of law and may hold other public or private employment.
(C) The City Attorney shall have and exercise all powers and duties assigned to them by statute, this chapter, and such other municipal responsibilities delegated from time to time. They shall attend all meetings of the Board of Commissioners, if so requested, shall advise the Mayor, the Board of Commissioners, the City Manager, and all other city officials and employees in all legal matters pertaining to their municipal duties or affecting the interests of the city, shall appear for and defend the city in all legal actions and administrative proceedings in which the city is a party or is interested, shall institute legal action for and in behalf of the city wherever necessary for protection or enforcement of rights or interests of the city, shall prepare and examine ordinances, resolutions, orders, and legal instruments as the Board of Commissioners may direct, and generally shall attend to all legal business of the city.
(D) In addition to the salary fixed for the City Attorney by annual ordinance of the Board of Commissioners, the City Attorney shall receive additional compensation as an independent contractor for all extraordinary services, including appearances in legal actions and administrative proceedings and hearings involving the city, municipal bond issues, real estate acquisitions and dispositions, and other matters beyond the scope of usual legal counsel to the city or requiring an unusual amount of time. For such extraordinary services, the City Attorney shall be paid reasonable fees commensurate with the amount and value of time devoted thereto, based upon charges made by other attorneys for comparable legal services.
(E) No person shall be appointed or act as City Attorney unless such person has taken the oath required by Section 228 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and has provided a bond, if required to do so by the Board of Commissioners, in the sum as established by the Board of Commissioners, with corporate surety authorized to transact business in Kentucky and conditioned upon the performance of the duties specified herein.
(Am. Ord. 0-2011-006, passed 2-21-11)