[Amended 1-6-1998]
The Department of Law shall be headed by a director who shall be the Township Attorney and who shall be an attorney at law of the state, qualified by training and experience. This position may be full-time but shall be part-time unless otherwise stated. The Township Attorney shall be compensated as provided by annual Salary Ordinance and as may be otherwise approved by consent of the Council.
[Amended 9-23-2014 by Ord. No. O-14-10]
The Director of the Department of Law shall perform all appropriate functions associated therewith, including:
A. 
Serving as legal advisor to the Township, Mayor, members of Council, Township Clerk, Business Administrator, Township Engineer, and administrative department heads.
B. 
Preparing and advising as to form and sufficiency of ordinances and Council resolutions, if requested, prior to passage. Preparing, reviewing and approving, prior to the publication or the execution thereof by or on behalf of the Township, contracts, deeds, requests for proposals and requests for qualifications, information for bids, and other documents and instruments.
C. 
Conducting appeals from orders, decisions or judgments affecting any interest of the Township as directed by the Council.
D. 
Instituting, prosecuting, defending, compromising or settling any actions, suits, litigation or proceedings, in which the Township is or shall become involved, subject to the approval of Mayor and Council.
E. 
Rendering opinions, in writing or orally, as requested, upon any question of law or procedure submitted to the Township Attorney by Council, the Mayor, the Township Clerk, the Business Administrator, the Township Engineer, or by administrative department heads.
F. 
Selecting duly authorized special counsel with demonstrated qualifications by training and experience to institute, prosecute, defend or handle, and supervising and monitoring all such actions, suits, litigation, proceedings and matters as are necessary, advisable or appropriate for special counsel to handle on behalf of the Township.
G. 
Maintaining a record of all actions, suits, litigation, proceedings and matters which relate to the Township's interests and to report thereon as the Mayor and Council may require.
All papers, documents, memoranda, reports and other materials relating to the administration of the Department of Law shall be and remain the property of the Township. Upon termination of his or her service with the Township, the Attorney shall forthwith surrender to his or her successor all such property, together with a written consent to substitution of his or her successor in all legal actions, suits and litigation proceedings then pending to which the Township is a party. However, the former Attorney may remain as Attorney of Record to represent the Township in those matters in which the Mayor believes the best interests of the Township will be served by retaining the former Attorney.
The Department of Law shall be organized pursuant to plan approved as provided in § 4-9 of this chapter.