The City Attorney’s office provides legal advice and counsel to the Governing Body, City Administrator, City departments, City committees, boards and commissions. The office drafts and reviews ordinances, resolutions, contracts and other legal documents and provides assistance, as necessary, with legislative matters. The staff is responsible for issuing advisory opinions and for processing claims against the City and its officers and employees. The staff is also responsible for prosecuting claims in municipal court and appeals from municipal court decisions.

The City Attorney:

• Is the legal advisor to the Mayor, the Council and the City Administrator.
• Directs and is responsible for all of the activities of the Legal Department.
• Plans the goals and objectives of the department and prepares the annual departmental budget needed to accomplish those goals.
• Supervises the work of the attorneys and support staff in the department.

In addition to a full time City Attorney, the office is staffed with a full time assistant city attorney and a part-time prosecutor:

• Assistant City Attorney: Generally providing assistance to all departments and advisor to the City’s Department of Planning and Development and the Leawood Planning Commission.
• Prosecutor: Responsible for prosecuting municipal court matters and appeals from such matters.

The attorneys in the department are assisted by a paralegal who prepares standard resolutions, coordinates documents to be submitted for Governing Body action, tracks claims for risk management purposes, handles insurance coverage matters, and provides assistance with file and document handling.

The attorneys in the Legal Department advise and represent the City of Leawood. They cannot provide legal advice to citizens or businesses.