Divisions

The Administrative Division handles the day-to-day administrative, managerial, technical, and operational matters for the department, including human resources, the city’s public information requests process, information technology, records management, and library management.

The Financial Services Division provides financial planning and budgeting for the City of Austin Law Department, including business planning, purchasing and outside counsel/consultant contracting. 

The Criminal Prosecution Division prosecutes Class C misdemeanors pursuant to state laws and city ordinances. The attorneys in this division practice before the City of Austin Municipal Court and cover an average of 55 dockets per week including jury trials, bench trials, and pre-trial motion hearings. Prosecutors pursue approximately 430,000 cases a year submitted by City of Austin departments including Police, Code Compliance, Development Services, Water, Animal Services, Fire, and Health.

The General Counsel Division provides advice and counsel to all City departments and operations on employment, labor relations, and civil legal issues. This includes risk analysis and risk mitigation advice; compliance with employment and labor relations standards; assistance with drafting and interpreting policies, procedures, and other documents; and representation of City management in civil service appeals and in external administrative claims involving employment, labor relations, and civil service issues.

The Land Use and Real Estate Division provides legal advice, legislative drafting, transactional and contractual assistance on issues related to land use, housing, real estate, permitting and development, parks, and animal services. The attorneys in the division also provide legal support to the Planning Commission, Zoning and Platting Commission, Board of Adjustment, Building and Standards Commission, and the Historic Landmark Commission.

The Litigation Division represents the City of Austin, City officials, and City employees in affirmative and defensive civil litigation lawsuits filed in state and federal court. The Litigation Division handles cases at all stages of litigation from the initial claim investigation, to the trial court stage, and through the appellate process. 

The Municipal Operations Division provides legal advice and opinions to City Council and City staff on municipal finance issues such as public finance, bonds, taxes, fees and budget and other municipal services such as Transportation and Public Works, Aviation and Austin Public Health. The attorneys also provide transactional assistance to multiple City departments and offices such as Purchasing, Convention Center, and Economic Development.

The Open Government / Ethics and Compliance division provides legal advice and ethics training to City employees, boards and commissions, and elected officials. 

The Utilities and Regulatory division provides legal advice to several departments, including Austin Energy, Austin Water, Austin Resource Recovery, the Information Security Office, and Communication and Technology Management.  The attorneys advise on utility, regulatory, and franchise issues, as well as cyber and information security legal compliance.