Sec. 309.09. (A) The prosecuting attorney shall be the
legal | 10 |
adviser of the board of county commissioners, board of
elections, | 11 |
and all other county officers and boards, including
all | 12 |
tax-supported public libraries, and any of them may require | 13 |
written opinions or instructions from the prosecuting attorney in | 14 |
matters connected
with their official duties. The prosecuting | 15 |
attorney shall
prosecute and defend all
suits and actions which | 16 |
any such officer or board directs or to
which it is a party, and | 17 |
no county officer may employ any other
counsel or attorney at the | 18 |
expense of the county, except as
provided in section 305.14 of the | 19 |
Revised Code. | 20 |
(B) The prosecuting attorney shall be the legal adviser
for | 21 |
all township officers, boards, and commissions, unless the | 22 |
township has adopted
a limited home
rule government pursuant to | 23 |
Chapter 504. of the Revised Code and has not entered into a | 24 |
contract to
have the prosecuting attorney serve as the township | 25 |
law director, in which
case the township law
director, whether | 26 |
serving full-time or part-time, shall be the
legal adviser for all | 27 |
township officers, boards, and
commissions. When the board of | 28 |
township trustees finds it advisable or necessary to have | 29 |
additional legal counsel, it may employ an attorney other than the | 30 |
township law director or the prosecuting attorney of the county, | 31 |
either for a particular matter or on an annual basis, to
represent | 32 |
the township and its officers, boards, and commissions
in their | 33 |
official
capacities and to advise them on legal matters. No such | 34 |
legal counsel
may be employed, except on the order of the board of | 35 |
township trustees, duly entered upon its journal, in which the | 36 |
compensation to be paid for the legal services shall be
fixed. The | 37 |
compensation shall be paid from the township
fund. | 38 |
(C) Whenever the board of county commissioners employs an | 42 |
attorney other than the prosecuting attorney of the county, | 43 |
without the authorization of the court of common pleas as
provided | 44 |
in section 305.14 of the Revised Code, either for a
particular | 45 |
matter or on an annual basis, to represent the board
in its | 46 |
official capacity and to advise it
on legal matters, the board | 47 |
shall enter
upon its journal an order of the board in which the | 48 |
compensation
to be paid for the legal services shall be fixed. The | 49 |
compensation shall be paid from the county general fund. The
total | 50 |
compensation paid, in any year, by the board for legal services | 51 |
under this division shall not
exceed the total annual compensation | 52 |
of the prosecuting attorney
for that county. | 53 |
(D) The prosecuting attorney and the board of county | 54 |
commissioners jointly may contract with a board of park | 55 |
commissioners under section 1545.07 of the Revised Code for the | 56 |
prosecuting
attorney to provide legal services to the park | 57 |
district the board of park commissioners operates. All moneys | 58 |
received
pursuant to the contract shall be deposited into the | 59 |
prosecuting attorney's legal services fund, which shall be | 60 |
established in the
county treasury of each county in which the | 61 |
contract
exists. Moneys in
that fund may be appropriated only to | 62 |
the prosecuting attorney for the purpose
of providing legal | 63 |
services under a contract entered into under this
division. | 64 |
(G) The prosecuting attorney may be, in the prosecuting | 79 |
attorney's discretion, the legal adviser of a joint emergency | 80 |
medical services district created under section 307.052 of the | 81 |
Revised Code at no cost to the district or may be the legal | 82 |
adviser to the district under a contract the prosecuting attorney | 83 |
and the district enter into to authorize the prosecuting attorney | 84 |
to provide legal services to the district. | 85 |
(I) All money received pursuant to a contract entered into | 93 |
under division (D), (E), (F), (G), or (H) of this section shall be | 94 |
deposited into the prosecuting attorney's legal services fund, | 95 |
which shall be established in the county treasury of each county | 96 |
in which such a contract exists. Moneys in that fund may be | 97 |
appropriated only to the prosecuting attorney for the purpose of | 98 |
providing legal services to a park district, joint fire district, | 99 |
joint ambulance district, joint emergency medical services | 100 |
district, or a fire and ambulance district, as applicable, under a | 101 |
contract entered into under the applicable division. | 102 |