I am a newly elected DA and find myself in the unenviable position of being the subject of an attempt to bring me into six federal lawsuits in my "official capacity" due to the alleged actions of my predecessor in office. (Fed.R.Civ.Pro. 25).
The State of Texas and the County have both refused to provide a defense despite written request due to Attorney General opinion GA-0755 (2010). So I will be proceeding pro se in federal court. (Notwithstanding the maxim that any lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client.)

I write concerning new asset forfeiture cases and how to structure future handling of these cases to provide some protection for myself and other DA's similarly situated. Last week, I was brought two new Ch. 59 cases with the 30 day deadline expiring January 7, 2013.

I hired an opinion attorney at my own expense and he advised me to execute new interlocal agreements containing an express duty to defend, contribution, indemnity and hold harmless clauses for each agencies' particular cases. (Note: I read Scott Brumley's earlier post about whether a county can indemnify at all.)

I am uncomfortable taking these cases without some protection, since a "District" official has no official protection from even frivolous lawsuits.

Any comments and concerns may help navigate this minefield. I am currently a one person office.

I have draft duty to defend, contribution, indemnification and hold harmless clauses. Note that the county insurance policy excludes "color of state action" (i.e. 42 USC 1983) claims. Time is of the essence.

I'm assuming the federal lawsuits are civil rights claims related to asset forfeitures in your county. It seems to me the easiest way to avoid such lawsuits is to make sure you retain discretion to file or not file suit after any seizure by a law enforcement agency. That way, you can decline any questionable forfeitures.

I posted our office's typical agreement in this thread. There's no indemnification language, just the following: "Subject to its discretion, the District Attorney will undertake forfeiture proceedings for property seized by the Department under chapter 59 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure." That way, you have the final say-so on whether to proceed.