Title 18 Counties

18-3-302. Duties generally; employment of other attorneys by county.

(a) Each county attorney shall: (i) Act in all courts in the state as legal counsel for his county or counties and its officers acting in their official capacity and prosecute or defend all suits instituted by or against his county or counties or its officers; (ii) Give his opinion in writing upon the request of any county officer of his county or counties, without fee, upon all questions of law relating to the duties of such officer and file and preserve in his office a copy of all such opinions; (iii) Examine the bonds offered by every county officer before the bonds are approved by the board of county commissioners and report in writing to the board of county commissioners or to the judge of the district court whether the bonds are executed as required by law; (iv) Perform other duties as prescribed by law. (b) In any county in a judicial district in which the office of district attorney has not been created, the county and prosecuting attorney shall have the jurisdiction, responsibilities, and duties of the district attorney and of the county attorney. (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the county commissioners of any county or consolidation of counties from employing one (1) or more attorneys to appear and prosecute or defend or assist the county and prosecuting attorney in behalf of the people of the state or such county or consolidation of counties in any action or proceeding, whether civil or criminal. In such case, the nature and necessity of the employment shall appear in the record of the board or boards. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the board of county commissioners of a county which has consolidated from independently employing one (1) or more attorneys to serve their respective counties.