County attorney

A county attorney in the United States is the chief legal officer for a county or local judicial district. Many states that do not have county attorneys have instead state's attorneys or commonwealth's attorney; and many municipalities have district attorneys. In many states this is an elected position.

In some jurisdictions, the county attorney oversees the operations of both the local prosecutors and public defenders with respect to violations of county ordinances, and of state laws to the extent that the state permits local prosectution of these. County attorneys do not prosecute federal crimes, which are reserved for prosecution by a United States Attorney.

The county attorney also bears many responsibilities not related to criminal prosecution or defense. These include defending the county against civil suits, occasionally initiating such suits on behalf of the county, and preparing or reviewing contracts entered into by the county. In some jurisdictions, the county attorney does not handle any criminal matters at all, but serves as the legal counsel to the county.

External links

• www.prosecutor.info indexes over 2,900 prosecutor web sites throughout the USA and other countries.