(A) Generally. The City Attorney shall be appointed by the City Manager. He or she shall be the official head of the Law Department and shall be responsible for its efficient operation. He or she shall be appointed on an indefinite basis and shall continue in office until a successor has been appointed and qualified. He or she shall be an attorney licensed to practice law in the state.
(B) Duties.
(1) It shall be the duty of the City Attorney to counsel and advise the City Manager and heads of departments; to prepare or revise ordinances when so requested by the Council or the City Manager; to prepare for execution, all contracts and agreements of which the city is a party and shall approve as to form all such legal instruments; to give legal opinions upon all legal matters or questions submitted to him or her by the Mayor, City Manager, or by the City Council. Upon request he or she shall reduce any such opinion to writing.
(2) He or she shall attend Council meetings for the purpose of giving the Council any legal advice requested by its members; keep a complete record of all suits in which the city has or had an interest; counsel and instruct elected officials, department heads, and employees in the elements of public law, when requested; advise the various boards and commissions upon legal questions arising in the conduct of their business; keep a record of all written opinions furnished by him or her and of all certificates or abstracts of titles obtained by him or her to the city or any department or official thereof; with the appropriating of property to public use and in the levying of assessments; report the outcome of any litigation in which the city has an interest to the City Manager and Council; and prosecute or defend any and all suits or actions at law or equity to which the city may be a party, or in which it may be interested.
(Prior Code, § 33.002) (Ord. 60-1, passed 12-19-1960)