Civil Division

The Business and Transactions Unit assists the various County departments and special taxing districts (such as the Flood Control and Library Districts) in connection with the various contractual obligations the County enters into as it carries out its diverse business operations. Those operations include such things as buying and selling interests in real property; operating the County's numerous healthcare and community services programs; building roads and other public infrastructure; operating a wastewater treatment system; managing parks, recreational facilities, and open space; obtaining bond and other types of financing; procuring all of the County’s goods and services; managing information technology systems; and contracting with other jurisdictions for joint and cooperative projects.

The Unit works closely and continuously with County staff and officials, providing general legal advice and counsel concerning the County’s numerous legal obligations and limitations, and its management of risk and liability. The attorneys in the Business & Transactions Unit review and sign most County contracts and are often directly involved in the negotiation and subsequent administration of those contracts.

The Land Use and Environmental Unit brings legal actions to enforce zoning, building, and environmental ordinances and regulations. It provides legal advice to the Department of Environmental Quality, the Development Services Department, the Chief Zoning Inspector, the Planning and Zoning Commission, the Boards of Adjustment, and the Board of Supervisors on a broad range of land-use issues that arise in the course of County regulation.

The Unit’s attorneys also advise the Pima County Air Quality Control District and the District’s Control Officer concerning the enforcement of the County’s Air Quality Control Code. In addition to these regulatory functions, the Unit represents the County’s interests in Eminent Domain (condemnation) proceedings.

The Health Law Unit represents and advises the various health care entities of Pima County, including the Pima County Health Department, the Pima County Board of Health, the Department of Institutional Health, the Forensic Sciences Center, Pima Animal Care, and the Pima County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. The Unit drafts and reviews a wide variety of contracts for those clients and provides legal advice on a broad array of issues. In addition, the Unit prepares and litigates petitions for the involuntary commitment of individuals who, because of their mental illness, are unable or unwilling to seek and participate in their treatment on a voluntary basis.

The attorneys in the Tax & Bankruptcy Unit appear in Bankruptcy Court to protect the County's interest in the collection of delinquent real and personal property taxes. Their efforts preserve millions of dollars of tax proceeds, thus reducing the burden on other taxpayers. They also appear in Tax Court (a division of the Superior Court) to respond to tax appeals and defend the County Assessor's valuations. In addition, the attorneys in this unit ensure that tax collections are protected in eminent domain proceedings, probate cases, and forfeiture cases. In carrying out its responsibilities, this unit advises and represents the County Assessor and the County Treasurer.

The Unit's staff and attorneys also assist the County Treasurer in tax lien foreclosure cases and in disposing of excess proceeds that can result from foreclosure proceedings.

The Sheriff's Legal Advisor Unit provides legal advice and representation to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. Besides giving on-call legal advice to deputies in the field, the Unit responds to requests for public records that are under the Sheriff's Department's control, and provides training for each class of recruits at the Department's Training Academy.

The civil Deputy County Attorneys and staff in the Tort Unit defend Pima County, and its elected officials and employees, against a variety of personal injury and civil rights claims that the County Attorney believes lack merit. These claims, brought in both state and federal court, typically involve allegations that some action by the County or one of its employees caused physical or economic injury to an individual. Examples include the assertion that a faulty County road design caused an accident or that a deputy sheriff or corrections officer used excessive force.

The Tort Unit’s lawyers and staff are remarkably successful in defending the County against such claims, thus saving the taxpayers millions of dollars.

The Civil Division employs experienced attorneys who provide legal advice and representation to elected county officials and County departments on a broad range of labor and employment-law matters. Civil Division attorneys advise County staff and officials on a daily basis concerning the interpretation of and compliance with the numerous state and federal employment and anti-discrimination laws to which the county is subject, as well as the County’s own personnel policies.

In addition, they regularly appear in state and federal trial and appellate courts, and before the County's Merit System Commission and Law Enforcement Merit System Council, to defend the employment actions taken by various County appointing authorities.

The Unit's attorneys also advise and represent the County Recorder and the Elections Department and enforce election laws. In addition, attorneys in this Unit are assigned to provide representation to the County School Superintendent and Justice Court/Justices of the Peace.