Court Opinion

ID: 6476491
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-06-26 22:41:55.572942+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:53:59.497400
License: Public Domain

CAMERON, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
I regret that I must dissent. I believe the statement by Chief Judge Froeb in the opinion of the Court of Appeals succinctly states my position. Board of Supervisors v. Woodall, 120 Ariz. 391, 586 P.2d 640 (App.1978):
“There is a difference, however, between duty and exclusive power.
“We are unable to accept the argument that duty to render legal advice is an exclusive power reposed in the office of the county attorney. There is no statute so stating as there is with regard to the Arizona attorney general in A.R.S. § 41-192. [footnote omitted] It is logical that the legislature would provide that the county attorney have the duty to render legal advice to other county officers when, as and if there is a necessity for it. It is not logical to imply that the duty is an exclusive power. The argument that employment of attorneys outside of the county attorney’s office gives rise to unnecessary duplication of services and is, therefore, against the public interest, does not hold true. If a given level of legal service is required by the board and its departments, arguably, the lawyer hours involved are the same whether the attorney is on the staff of the county attorney or on the staff of the board. In fact, it can be argued that the latter is more efficient, particularly where the staff attorney has administrative responsibilities to which the legal advice is related.
“It is suggested that, where legal services are the exclusive province of the county attorney, a ‘check’ upon the power of the board occurs which is in keeping with the constitutional concept of separation of powers. It is argued that checks and balances are necessary to restrain the power that is naturally reposed in the board as the combined legislative and executive branch of county government. We are directed to no case which holds that the office of the county attorney takes on the characteristic of a branch of government whose constitutional purpose is to check the other branches. We are satisfied to believe that the office, as with other county offices under the constitution, is assigned express powers and duties which are separately exercised. Moreover, in the area of legal advice, it would be anomalous indeed if the lawyer served his client in the role of adversary rather than advocate. We are not convinced that the people of Arizona acting through their legislative representatives chose to invest the county attorney with a watchdog role over the board of supervisors.” 120 Ariz. at 396, 586 P.2d at 645.