City Attorney Overview

Fiscal Year 2022/23

Mission Statement

To ensure the legality of the official business of the City of Tucson and protect the best interests of the City by providing effective and timely legal services to the Mayor and Council, the City Manager, and all City departments. The City Attorney's Office shall promote the safety of Tucson's citizens and support local law enforcement by pursuing justice in the prosecution of criminal offenses.

Programs

The following programs are included in this department:

Administration

Civil

Criminal

Drug Enforcement Unit

Victim Notification and Assistance Unit

Covid-19 Disaster Relief

Staffing By Program

*Full Time Equivalent Employee (FTE)

Budget By Program

Department Expenses

Budget By Expense Category

Budget By Funding Source

Significant Changes

The adopted budget for Fiscal Year 2022/23 of $9,408,780 reflects a net increase of $709,400 from the Fiscal Year 2021/22 Adopted Budget. Major changes include the following:

• Increase in salaries and benefits expense budget by $1,006,880. Please note, this increase of $1,006,880 from FY22 to FY23 is high due to the FY22 salary

increases for the market study were not added to the department operating budget.

• Decrease in budget of $237,140 related to the 1.5 FTE for Principal Assistant Attorneys that was erroneously issued in duplicate for FY22.

• Decrease in COVID-19 disaster relief funding by $59,700.

Trends

The COVID pandemic has compelled fundamental changes in operations, and it seems clear that some of those changes will become permanent, rather than a trend. In particular, remote work is and will remain a significant part of the overall work model. This means more dependence on reliable systems and equipment that enable and support effective remote work; and it means that moving forward the department will need to budget appropriately for equipment replacement and system upgrades. It also means that the department needs to recognize that prospective employees are looking for employers who provide remote work opportunities.

Accomplishments

The productivity and responsiveness of the Office has remained high even in the face of compelled changes in the work model. Within the Internal Litigation Unit, litigation strategies, including an aggressive motions practice aimed at dismissing or narrowing cases in the pre-trial stages; early evaluation of liability exposure to identify reasonable settlement opportunities; and taking defensible cases to trial where reasonable settlement terms cannot be reached, continue to produce successful results.

Future Objectives

With the assistance of Business Services - Risk Management Division and the City Manager's Office, the department continues to maintain resources in the litigation unit to keep more cases in house rather than assigning them to outside counsel. The City Attorney's Office will continue to work with City partners (Public Defender, Courts) to administer prosecutions efficiently while reducing jail and other costs. With respect to prosecutions, the Domestic Violence caseload continues to grow, in part due to a large number of cases being waived down from felony prosecution and directed to the department for misdemeanor prosecution. The department intends to put more resources to these cases and attempt to coordinate with the Pima County Attorney’s Office to have more of these cases prosecuted as felonies.