[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Sudbury
as Art. VII of the General Bylaws. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Select Board shall appoint a member of the Bar in good standing
to serve as Town Counsel from the date of their appointment and until
their successor is appointed and enters upon the performance of their
duties. The Select Board may employ special counsel to assist the
said Town Counsel.
It shall be the duty of the Town Counsel to advise the Town
in legal matters and to conduct all of the legal affairs of the Town.
Except as otherwise specifically provided by the General Laws,
the Select Board shall be the agents of the Town to institute, prosecute
and defend in the name of the Town, or otherwise, any and all claims,
actions and proceedings to which the Town is a party or in which the
interests of the Town are or may be involved.
The Select Board shall have the authority to settle at their
discretion any action, suit or other proceeding to which the Town
is a party or in which the interests of the Town are or may be involved
provided funds are available therefor.
[Amended 10-16-2017 STM
by Art. 6]
A.
At least every 36 months, at the time of appointment, the Select
Board shall discuss the performance of Town Counsel in regular session,
and determine whether it would be in the best interest of the Town
to issue a request for proposals for Town Counsel candidates. If the
Select Board votes to request proposals for the position of Town Counsel,
the following competitive review procedure shall be utilized. The
competitive review procedure for selecting a qualified legal service
provider shall be as follows, in the sequence listed, and the Select
Board shall allow at least four months to complete the listed steps:
(1)
Step 1. The Select Board shall request proposals from a minimum of
three legal services providers. The request for proposals shall state
the criteria by which candidates will be judged. Criteria shall include,
but not be limited to, qualifications, experience, and cost for providing
services.
(2)
Step 2. The Select Board shall review all proposals in sufficient
detail to judge whether they are sufficiently responsive to the selection
criteria to merit a subsequent interview.
(3)
Step 3. The Select Board shall invite at least three responsive candidates
to make oral presentations to the Select Board in open session. Each
candidate shall be allotted an equal length of time before the Select
Board.
(4)
Step 4. After interviewing the responsive candidates and deliberating
the merits of each responsive proposal, the Select Board shall choose
by majority vote the most responsive candidate for the succeeding
term of Town Counsel and document the basis for the selection.
(5)
If the Select Board does not approve of any of the candidates for
Town Counsel among those interviewed, then the preceding four steps
shall be repeated.
B.
If the Select Board is unable to complete the selection process specified in Subsection A to reappoint or replace Town Counsel by the end of the incumbent Town Counsel's term, the Select Board may extend the term of the incumbent Town Counsel or appoint a qualified interim Town Counsel, in either case for a period not to exceed 120 calendar days, to allow the Select Board to complete the selection process. Such an extension or interim appointment may only occur once after an unsuccessful selection process.
