The County Attorney is the lawyer for the county and its officers.  The County Attorney furnishes legal advice to the County Board, elected  county officers and the heads of departments. The County Attorney represents the county and it's officers any legal matters in which the county may be involved or it's individual officers in their capacity as county officials.

     A second important part of the County Attorney's duties is the prosecution of criminal matters.  As prosecutor of criminal matters, the County Attorney does not represent the police or sheriff but represents the people of the county.  The sheriff's department and the various police in the county investigate crimes and bring the facts to the attention of the County Attorney.  It is then the duty of the County Attorney to determine whether the evidence gathered by the sheriff or ;the police is sufficient to support a criminal charge against the person involved.  If it is determined that there should be a criminal charge it is the County Attorney's duty to appear at all the hearings and conduct a trial, if one is necessary.  As part of the criminal work the County Attorney also advises the Sheriff's Office and other police officers as to any questions they may have concerning their officials duties.

    A third part of the County Attorney's duties is to appear in juvenile court, which is somewhat related the the criminal duties.  A juvenile is not charged with a specific crime but rather with being delinquent.  The purpose of the proceedings is to assist the juvenile in avoiding future problems .  There are also cases in which the juvenile may be determined to be " children in need of protection  or sevices"(CHIPS), which means they need outside assistance or are not being properly cared for in there homes.  The County Attorney also represents petitioners in civil commitment proceedings arising from mental illness, mental retardation or chemical dependency  to determine if someone is mentally ill, or mentally retarded, or whether someone should be committed for treatment because of chemical dependency.