I am a newly elected County Attorney in a small county. I am the only attorney in the office. I am having trouble with the county judge and individual commissioners asking me to do things that I believe are outside the scope of my duties. Until now I have done a few things that they have requested in order to cultivate some goodwill. I have been struggling to find a way to clearly explain to them the duties of my job without completely alienating them. I am not overly concerned about the political aspects. My main concern is the legality of any actions that I may take or advice that I provide. I only want to do the work for the Court that I am required to by law. Otherwise, I get nothing done and set myself up for trouble. I know this is a broad request but, any help I could get on laying down the ground rules to the Court would be greatly appreciated.

You should probably go to the TDCAA Criminal and Civil in the Fall at South Padre Island. Civil Committee will have more than a day of information and you can get the answer to your question from a variety of sources. Various offices have differing statutes that govern the extent of the CDA or County Attorney duties. For example, since our boss has a duty to represent the County we are proactive and provide lots of advice. In a county that has no specific greater duty you may need only respond to requests for advice with a written opinion, like the AG. I think there is more to the job than that. However, the limitation of this form of communication becomes apparent, since I cannot tell what advice you are uncomfortable in giving Commissioners Court.

Hi Overworked in Uvalde:

I have been the Presidio County Attorney for eight years. When I first took office, I had some of the same problems you are now having, and still get them occasionally when new officials take office. I'm happy to speak privately with you about this issue--you can reach me at (915) 729-4054.

Buena suerte,

teresa todd

I forgot to include a helpful cite--check out JC-0034. It discusses duties of the office, and also the provision of ancillary legal services to a county by a county attorney. Hope it is helpful to you.

Thanks for the help guys. This forum is great resource for me.

Welcome aboard. I have a special affinity for your neck of the woods in that my grandmother and great-uncle reside in the county that is your neighbor to the north. They are frequently heard to say that I'm a government leech who does nothing for their part of the state. So let this be a reckoning.

Ray accurately refers you to the provision in the Government Code which requires county attorneys to provide written advice concerning official duties. The other provision to watch out for is section 157.901 of the Local Government Code. Under this statute, unless your commissioners court is amenable to securing outside counsel, you may find yourself tersely introduced to litigation against individual officers or employees under federal civil rights law or state tort law. Like my able colleagues above, I am more than happy to discuss handling an overbearing and underpaying commissioners court. My number is (806) 379-2255. Best of luck to you.

As the four term CA for a rural county, I fully understand (and can add a few verses to) the felling and frustration. Suggestions - let your commissioners see you as a limited resource - like water; to be conserved for when needed, and used wisely. You really don't want them to stop coming to you, as that is when they get into trouble, then you get to dig them out.

Not knowing how much your predecessor did, it is hard to advise you; I will be at Padre, and you are welcome to call me at the office (915-235-5469) or to e-mail me. In many cases, helping the Commissioners does more long term good for small counties than prosecution of misdemeanors (especially those pesky speeding tickets...)