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The city director of law shall be elected for a term of
four years . . . [and] shall be an elector of the city (ORC 733.49). No
person shall be eligible to the office of city director of law who is not an
attorney at law, admitted to practice in this state (ORC 733.50).
The city director of law shall prepare all contracts, bonds, and other
instruments in writing in which the city is concerned, and shall serve the
several directors and officers provided in Title VII of the Revised Code as
legal counsel and attorney (ORC 733.51).
The city director of law, when required to do so by resolution of the
legislative authority of the city, shall prosecute or defend on behalf of
the city, all complaints, suits, and controversies in which the city is a
party, and such other suits, matters, and controversies as he is, by
resolution or ordinance, directed to prosecute. He shall not be required to
prosecute any action before the mayor of the city for the violation of an
ordinance without first advising such action (ORC 733.53).
When an officer of a city entertains doubts concerning the law in any matter
before him in his official capacity, and desires the opinion of the city
director of law, he shall clearly state to the director of law, in writing,
the question upon which the opinion is desired, and thereupon the director
of law shall, within a reasonable time, reply orally or in writing to such
inquiry. The right conferred upon such officers by this section extends to
the legislative authority of the city, and to each board provided for in
Title VII of the Revised Code (ORC 733.54). |