City attorney

A city attorney can be an elected or appointed position in a local government in the United States.

In some small towns, the city attorney is usually a private lawyer and handles only governmental matters. In other small towns the city attorney also prosecutes minor crimes.

A city attorney generally handles all legal matters for the city, from traffic tickets to civil law suits to giving legal advice for other departments.

Areas of focus may include:

• Civil - prosecute misdemeanors and violations - (felonies are usually prosecuted by a District Attorney, State's Attorney or Commonwealth's Attorney)
• Claims against city
• Real Estate - drug/alcohol nuisance, substandard housing or building code violations
• Police legal advisor

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