City Attorney of San Francisco

Not to be confused with the District Attorney of San Francisco.

The city attorney of San Francisco is an elected position in the City and County of San Francisco, California. While city-county consolidation resulted in the unified government having both a city attorney and a district attorney, the two positions are separate and serve different purposes.

San Francisco City Attorney's Office

Office overview
Formed	1899 (1899)
Preceding office	Court of Sessions
Jurisdiction	Government of San Francisco
Headquarters	San Francisco, California 37.77919°N 122.41914°W / 37.77919; -122.41914
Office executive	David Chiu, City Attorney
Website	City Attorney website

Whereas the district attorney's office is, as is the case throughout the United States, charged with prosecuting crimes (i.e. has the equivalent function of a Prosecutor's Office in other countries), the city attorney provides legal services to the mayor, the Board of Supervisors, and the rest of the city and county administration; examines surety bonds, contracts and ordinances; and represents the city and county administration in civil claims, formally as a representative of the people of the State of California.

The city attorney is assisted by a number of assistant city attorneys.

History

The present position of city attorney was created in 1899, when the former offices of the city attorney and county attorney were unified; Franklin Knight Lane was the first city attorney elected under this regime.

The first woman to hold the position was Louise Renne in 1986, appointed by then-mayor Dianne Feinstein following the death of previous city attorney George Agnost.

List of City Attorneys

Prior to 1899

• Harry T. Creswell (1893–1898)
• Frederick Palmer Tracy (1898-1899)

After 1899

• Franklin Knight Lane (1899–1902)
• Percy V. Long (1902–1906)
• William J. Burke (1906–1908)
• Percy V. Long (1908–1916)
• George Lull (1916–1926)
• John J. O'Toole (1926–1949)
• Dion R. Holm (1949–1961)
• Thomas Martin O'Connor (1961–1977)
• George Agnost (1977–1986)
• Philip Ward (1986)
• Louise Renne (1986–2001)
• Dennis Herrera (2002–2021)
• David Chiu (2021–present)