The office of the City Attorney is established as a separate office of the City, and shall be responsible directly to the City Council.
(1960 code § 2.60; Ord. 2065 § 1(A), 2018)
The City Attorney shall be appointed by the City Council and shall have such duties as are prescribed by the general laws of the state and the regulations of the City, and shall be chief legal advisor of and attorney for the City and all departments and offices thereof.
(1960 code § 2.61; Ord. 2065 § 1(A), 2018)
A. 
1. 
The City Attorney shall:
a. 
Perform all services incident to his or her office;
b. 
Give advice in writing when so requested by Council, its committees, the Manager, the commissions or department heads; but all such advice shall be in writing with the citation of authorities in support of the conclusions expressed in said written opinions;
c. 
Prosecute or defend, as the case may be, all suits or cases to which the City may be a party;
d. 
Prepare or approve in writing all ordinances, resolutions, contracts, bonds or other instruments in which the City is concerned, and endorse on each his or her approval of the form or correctness thereof;
e. 
Preserve in his or her office a transcript of all cases in which the City is interested in any of the courts, and keep a record of all proceedings of said cases;
f. 
Preserve in his or her office copies of all written opinions furnished by him or her to the Council, Manager, commission, or any officer; and
g. 
Administer the City's risk management program.
2. 
Such documents, copies and papers shall be the property of the City, and the City Attorney shall, on retiring from office, deliver the same, together with all books, accounts, vouchers and necessary information, to his or her successor in office.
B. 
The City Attorney shall have charge and custody of all legal papers, books and documents belonging to the City pertaining to his or her office, and may demand and receive from any officer of the City any book, paper, document or evidence necessary to be used in any suit or required for the purpose of his or her office.
C. 
The City Attorney shall perform such other duties of a legal nature as the Council may by ordinance or resolution require, or as are provided by the Constitution or general laws of the state. The City Attorney shall prepare and submit to Council a proposed annual budget and the proposed annual salary plan for his or her assistants and employees. This budget shall also be submitted to the City Manager for his review and comments.
(1960 code § 2.62; Ord. 1432 § 1, 1994; Ord. 2065 § 1(A), 2018)
The City Attorney shall have the authority to appoint and remove those employees of the City Attorney's department allocated by the City Council through the annual city budget as necessary and appropriate to properly serve the City Attorney in performance of the duties and responsibilities of the office.
(1960 code § 2.65; Ord. 1320 § 1, 1989; Ord. 1728 § 4, 2004; Ord. 2065 § 1(A), 2018)
The City Attorney may attend, or send his or her representative to, any and all meetings of the Planning Commission, and any other commissions, boards or committees hereafter created by the City Council, upon his or her own volition, or upon direction of the City Council. At such meetings which the City Attorney attends, he or she shall be heard by such commissions, boards or committees as to all matters upon which he or she wishes to address the members thereof, and he or she shall inform such members as to the status of any matter, insofar as its legality is concerned, and he or she shall cooperate to the fullest extent with the members of such commissions, boards or committees appointed by the City Council.
(1960 code § 2.68; Ord. 2065 § 1(A), 2018)
The City Attorney shall receive such compensation and expense allowance as the City Council shall from time to time determine and fix by resolution, and such compensation and expenses shall be charged against the City as the City Council shall designate.
(1960 code § 2.66; Ord. 2065 § 1(A), 2018)
The City Attorney shall be reimbursed for all sums necessarily incurred or paid by him or her in the performance of duties, or incurred when traveling on business pertaining to the City under direction of the City Council. Reimbursement shall only be made, however, when a verified, itemized claim, setting forth the sums expended for such business for which reimbursement is requested, has been presented to the City Council for approval.
(1960 code § 2.67; Ord. 2065 § 1(A), 2018)