Kautz v. Powell

The Snellville city charter grants the mayor, and not the city council, the power to hire the city attorney. Under longstanding Georgia law, the governmental official or entity granted the power to hire a public attorney for an indefinite term necessarily possesses the power to remove that attorney. I therefore dissent.

Section 3.12 of the city charter provides: “The mayor shall appoint a city attorney, together with such assistant city attorneys as may be authorized, and shall provide for the payment of such attorney or attorneys for services rendered to the city.”7 (Emphasis supplied.) The…