Attorney Bureau Chief

Job Description Summary

Department - County Attorney

Job Description

REVISED

OPEN TO CURRENT PIMA COUNTY EMPLOYEES ONLY

Job Type: Unclassified

Job Classification: 3004 - Attorney Bureau Chief

Salary Grade: A5

Pay Range

Pay Range: $137,425 - $261,081 Annually 

The Pima County Attorney’s Office is seeking an experienced prosecutor and dynamic leader to serve as the Attorney Bureau Chief of the Misdemeanor Bureau within the Criminal Division.

The Misdemeanor Bureau Chief provides strategic, legal, operational, and personnel leadership for all misdemeanor prosecution functions by supervising attorneys, law clerks, and support staff; overseeing case flow and court coverage; managing attorney and staff resources; establishing performance expectations; and ensuring consistent, effective, and ethical prosecution practices.

A central responsibility of this role is the training, mentoring, and professional development of new prosecutors and law clerks. The Misdemeanor Bureau Chief plays a vital role in developing attorneys’ courtroom skills, legal analysis, judgment, trial advocacy, and understanding of prosecutorial duties. This role collaborates closely with the Attorney Trainer to develop and implement new attorney training programs and felony transition training. This includes guiding attorneys in case analysis, trial preparation, motion practice, and co trying jury cases with newer prosecutors. This role sets training benchmarks, evaluates attorney progress, identifies development needs, and prepares attorneys for increasing responsibilities within the Criminal Division.

The Bureau Chief also participates in attorney recruitment, including coordinating and conducting on-and-off-campus interviews and engaging with law school career development programs.

In addition, the Bureau Chief directs the professional development of law clerks by ensuring meaningful legal experience, proper supervision, and progressively responsible assignments. These opportunities may include legal research and writing, case analysis, evidence review, case preparation, courtroom exposure, and other prosecutorial functions permitted by law and court rules. The Bureau Chief works with supervising attorneys to provide consistent mentoring, feedback, and education in the professional and ethical responsibilities of prosecutors.

This position is responsible for analyzing bureau workloads, caseload distribution, court calendars, staffing needs, case processing practices, and operational challenges, and for developing appropriate plans, assignments, policies, and solutions. The Bureau Chief collaborates closely with Criminal Division leadership, courts, law enforcement agencies, victim advocates, and other criminal justice partners to address legal and operational issues and advance efficient and effective misdemeanor case administration.

Work is performed with substantial independence and requires exceptional judgment, discretion, leadership, accountability, and legal skill.
 
This classification is in the unclassified service and is exempt from the Pima County Merit System Rules.

Essential Functions:

As defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act, this classification may include any of the following tasks, knowledge, skills, and other characteristics. This list is ILLUSTRATIVE ONLY and is not a comprehensive listing of all functions and tasks performed by incumbents of this class. Work assignments may vary depending on the department’s need and will be communicated to the applicant or incumbent by the supervisor.

• Supervises and leads attorneys and support staff of a respective bureau within the department;

• Supervises bureau activities involved in prosecution or defense of a variety of criminal and/or civil cases in Justice Court, Juvenile Court, Superior Court, Federal Court, Appellate Courts, and Administrative venues;

• Evaluates personnel and program performance;

• Makes recommendations to the Appointing Authority on matters including hiring, disciplinary actions, promotions, and employment termination;

• Manages and investigates complaints and ethical allegations;

• Supervises assignment of cases, prioritizes projects, and resolves workload and technical issues;

• Reviews case files and work products and ensures that quality standards are met;

• Develops charging decision guidelines, legal assessments and strategies, and office standards based on the law, strength of the case, and evidentiary standards;

• Provides advice and consultation to law enforcement agencies on investigations and case management;

• Manages complex and unusual cases and legal issues, and assists in preparing strategies to meet challenges from the opposition;

• Applies extensive knowledge of State of Arizona statues, case law, and judicial procedures and knowledge of County operations;

• Monitors and reviews trends in law enforcement and criminal justice issues, recommends operational, procedural and policy improvements, and provides guidance on regulatory, legislative and management issues;

• Acts as role model and ensures that integrity, professionalism, values, and goals of the assigned Department and County are maintained.

Minimum Qualifications:

Juris Doctorate AND ten (10) years of previous experience practicing law in criminal, civil, or administrative proceedings.

OR:

One year with Pima County in an Attorney Supervisor position.

Qualifying education and experience must be clearly documented in the "Education" and "Work Experience" sections of the application. Do not substitute a resume for your application or write "see resume" on your application.

Preferred Qualifications: (Be specific in describing your experience in your application. Ensure the descriptions provided illustrate your competencies, specifically addressing the required and preferred qualifications.):

• Minimum twelve (12) years of experience practicing criminal law, with substantial experience in criminal prosecution.

• Minimum ten (10) years of criminal prosecution or criminal defense experience, including significant courtroom and trial experience.

• Minimum five (5) years of progressively responsible supervisory or leadership experience involving attorneys, including formal supervision, lead attorney responsibilities, mentoring, training, performance management, and substantive case oversight.

• Experience supervising, mentoring, training, and developing prosecutors at different stages of their professional development, particularly newer attorneys.

• Experience supervising, mentoring, or providing substantive legal guidance to law clerks, legal interns, or other developing legal professionals.

• Experience managing criminal prosecution operations, including attorney caseloads, assignments, courtroom coverage, case flow, staffing needs, and performance expectations.

• Experience developing, implementing, or overseeing attorney training programs, prosecution standards, charging practices, plea and case-resolution practices, litigation strategies, or related policies and procedures.

• Advanced knowledge of Arizona criminal law, criminal procedure, rules of evidence, victims' rights, prosecutorial ethics, and courtroom practice.

• Experience collaborating effectively with courts, law enforcement agencies, victim advocates, and other criminal justice partners.

• Experience with operational and staffing needs, manage competing priorities, address performance issues, and implement effective solutions in a high-volume prosecution environment.

• Record of sound legal judgment, leadership, professionalism, accountability, and effective written and oral communicate.

Selection Procedure:
Pima County Human Resources Department reserves the right to admit to the selection process only those candidates that meet the minimum qualifications. All applications will be assessed based on an evaluation of the listed education and experience. Candidates meeting the minimum qualifications may be further evaluated/scored against any advertised Preferred Qualifications. The hiring authority will interview and select the successful candidate from a referral list provided by Human Resources.Additionalassessments/testing may berequiredas part of the selection process.  

Supplemental Information:

Licenses and Certificates: Valid driver license isrequiredat time of application. Valid AZ driver license isrequiredat time of appointment. The successful applicant will be subject to a 39-month DOT Motor Vehicle Record review todetermineapplicant’s suitability tooperatecounty vehiclesin accordance withPima County administrative procedures. Failure to obtain andmaintainthe required licenses and certifications shall be grounds for termination. Any offer of employment resulting from this recruitment is contingent upon Fleet Services’ review and approval of the candidate’s driving record. Admission to the Arizona State Bar at time of appointment, which must be maintained in good standing.

Special Notice Items: The Countyrequirespre-employment background checks. Successful candidates will receive a post-offer, pre-employment background screening to include verification of work history, education, and criminal conviction history. All positions may require satisfactory completion of a personal background investigation by the court or law enforcement agencies, due to the need for access to County Attorney and Court facilities, records, and communication systems. Pima County determines whether a position is eligible for visa sponsorship at the time of recruitment. Eligibility is based on the requirements of the position and applicable laws and regulations. Not all positions with Pima County are eligible for visa sponsorship.

Physical/Sensory Requirements: Frequently operates a computer and other office equipment. Frequently observes details at close range. Frequently speaks to clients, witnesses, and other case involved parties, such as law enforcement agencies and experts in-person and/or on the phone. Regularly works in a professional office setting.

Working Conditions: Regular, daily attendance is an essential function for this position. Regularly receives and responds to telephone calls, text messages and emails.

EEO Information: Pima County Government is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We are committed to an inclusive and diverse workforce and will not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, kinship, political interest, or any other characteristic protected by law.