County attorney: Difference between revisions
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#redirect[[District attorney]] |
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{{Infobox Occupation |
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| name= County Attorney |
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| official_names= |
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<!------------Details-------------------> |
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| type= [[Profession]] |
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| activity_sector= [[Law]], [[Law Enforcement]] |
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| formation= [[Law degree]], [[Bar exam]] |
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| employment_field= Government legal service |
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| related_occupation= [[Prosecutor]], [[District Attorney]], [[Commonwealth's Attorney]], [[United States Attorney]] |
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}} |
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{{Unreferenced|date=May 2008}} |
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A '''county attorney''' in many areas of the [[United States]] is the [[chief legal officer]] for a [[county (United States)|county]] or local judicial district. It is usually an elected position. The role of the county attorney can be similar to or complementary to that of a local [[state's attorney]], [[commonwealth's attorney]] or [[district attorney]]. |
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In some jurisdictions, the county attorney oversees the operations of local prosecutors with respect to violations of county ordinances. In other jurisdictions, the county attorney prosecutes traffic matters and/or misdemeanors. In some states the county attorney prosecutes violations of state laws to the extent that the state permits local prosecution of these. County attorneys do not prosecute federal crimes, which are the jurisdiction of a [[United States Attorney]]. |
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Many county attorneys also bear responsibilities not related to criminal prosecution. These include defending the county against [[civil suit]]s, occasionally initiating such suits on behalf of the county, preparing or reviewing [[contract]]s entered into by the county and providing legal advice and counsel to local government. In some jurisdictions, the county attorney does not handle any criminal matters at all, but serves only as the legal counsel to the county. |
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For example, in [[Arizona]], [[Missouri]],[[Montana]], and [[Minnesota]] a county attorney represents the county and state within their county, prosecutes all [[felony|felonies]] occurring within the county, and prosecutes [[misdemeanor]]s occurring within [[unincorporated area]]s of the county. On the other hand, county attorneys in [[Kentucky]] and [[Virginia]]<ref>{{Cite web|title = Virginia Code § 15.2-1542. Creation of office of county, city or town attorney authorized; appointment, salary and duties|url = http://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title15.2/chapter15/section15.2-1542/|website = law.lis.virginia.gov|access-date = 2016-01-17}}</ref> prosecute only certain misdemeanors and sometimes traffic matters and serve as legal counsel for their county, with felony prosecutions and prosecutions of offenses not handled by the county attorney being the responsibility of the [[commonwealth's attorney]] for the given county. |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
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[[Category:County attorneys|*]] |
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{{US-law-stub}} |
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Latest revision as of 17:59, 5 January 2022
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