3 Roles of State's Attorney

3 Roles of State's Attorney Karen Kajmowicz

Some people may simply assume that all lawyers are the same and that they all have relatively the same job or do the same thing. In reality, nothing could be farther from the truth. Some attorneys will never see the inside of a courtroom, while other attorneys may never even practice law at all. In addition, there are both civil and criminal attorneys as well as attorneys that work for state and local governments. State’s attorneys, in particular, have a very specific role.

Here are three roles of a State’s Attorney.

CRIMINAL PROSECUTION When a person commits a crime, they are theoretically committing the crime against society. While in some cases an individual may accuse another individual of criminal wrongdoing, it is still the state government that actually determines whether any criminal wrongdoing took place and then files criminal charges if it did. For instance, an individual may accuse another of rape and if there is enough evidence found, charges may be filed. They are still filed by the State’s Attorney, not the victim. If the police arrest someone for selling drugs, then there is no complainant, but the State’s Attorney will still file charges and represent the State during the trial.

LEGAL ADVISOR In some cases, the State’s Attorney may be called upon to offer legal advice to various governmental agencies. For instance, a social services worker may need advice on what the proper legal procedure would be for removing a child from a home in another jurisdiction or when the child is actually legally an adult. They may also represent the state in a number of civil matters such as commitment hearings, welfare issues or issues regarding vulnerable adults.

DEBT COLLECTOR AND CIVIL PROSECUTER In some cases, the State’s Attorney may represent the State in their attempts to collect funds they are owed, such as property taxes, other types of taxes that may be owed or bankruptcy issues. The State may also be owed money for other reasons, such as contractors who may have been given money to build roads, buildings or other government projects that they did not complete or reneged on the contract in some way.

In some cases, the state may sue the contractor, in which case the State’s Attorney would, of course, represent the State in such a matter.

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