Assistant County Counsel

Sacramento County, CA; Sacramento (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Sacramento County, CA is seeking a qualified attorney to lead the Office of the County Counsel under general direction, providing high-level legal advice and coordinating with divisions, departments, and outside agencies.

The ideal candidate will have five years as a civil attorney for a public agency, active State Bar of California membership, and strong supervisory and budgeting skills to manage complex, deadline-driven legal work.

Qualifications

• Five years as a civil attorney for a public agency.
• Active membership in the State Bar of California.
• Experience supervising legal staff and managing programs.

Responsibilities

• Provide high-level legal advice to County leadership.
• Supervise and coordinate the County Counsel Office staff.
• Develop budgets and oversee financial documents.

Skills

Staff supervision

Budgeting

Legal research

Negotiation

Communication

Education

Juris Doctor (JD) degree

Job description

This is a continuous filing exam. Next filing cut-offs are at 5:00 pm on:

• 9/17/2026
• 9/24/2026

Under general direction, manages, supervises and coordinates the activities and operations of the Office of the County Counsel including providing high-level professional legal advice and services for the County of Sacramento; and coordinates assigned activities with other divisions, departments, outside agencies, and the general public.

Knowledge of

• Principles and practices of management and organizational theory, including planning, organizational design, business finance, business development, project management and organizational effectiveness
• Principles and practices of supervision, discipline, leadership, mentoring, and training
• Applicable federal, state, and local laws, codes, and regulations
• Operational characteristics, services and activities of assigned programs and functions
• English usage, spelling, grammar and punctuation
• Pertinent local, State, and Federal laws, rules and regulations
• Principles, methods, materials and practices of legal research
• Advanced legal writing, research and drafting of legal documents
• Strong communication and negotiation skills

Ability to

• Select, supervise, train, and evaluate staff
• Plan, coordinate, assign, and review the work of subordinate staff
• Investigate and resolve disciplinary issues
• Develop, monitor and interpret budgets and other financial documents
• Develop and maintain cooperative, effective working relationships with others
• Interpret and apply applicable federal, state, and local laws, codes, and regulations
• Influence and persuade others to take a desired action and/or direction
• Interpret and summarize a variety of data and information
• Exercise discretion and maintain confidentiality of information
• Identify and interpret technical information; research and analyze case law, regulations, policies and procedures
• Manage complex assignments of a sensitive nature that require strict deadlines and multiple personnel
• Research, analyze, and apply legal principles, facts, evidence and precedents to complex legal problems
• Draft legal documents such as ordinances, resolutions, contracts and pleadings
• Prepare and present concise and logical statements of fact, law, argument, and technical and administrative reports
• Interpret, analyze, explain and apply complex laws, legal documents, rules and regulations

Minimum Qualifications

Five (5) years of experience as a civil attorney for a public agency, including at least one (1) year of supervisory or management experience in a public agency.

Active membership in the State Bar of California.

Note

Failure to maintain such license and certification may be cause for disciplinary action in accordance with Civil Service Commission Rules.

General Qualifications

Criminal History and Background Checks: The County may access criminal history information on candidates who have accepted a conditional offer of appointment for this class consistent with the provisions of Board of Supervisors Resolution No. 82-602, Personnel Policies, and applicable federal and state laws. The County shall not consider for employment any candidate who has been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor that relates to or impacts the candidate's ability to perform the job duties of this class unless it is determined that mitigating circumstances exist. For purposes of accessing criminal history information, the candidate will be fingerprinted. A subsequent arrest notification may be obtained.

The County may also conduct a background check on the candidate prior to appointment to a position within this class. The background check may include personal and professional reference checks, credit history checks where authorized by Labor Code section 1024.5, Social Security Number verification, professional license/registration verification, military service information and driving history. Information obtained in the course of this background check will be considered by the appointing authority in the selection process. In obtaining such information, the County will comply with applicable consent and disclosure practices in the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the California Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act.

Probationary Period

The probationary period for this classification is six (6) months.

SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE

Applicants are required to provide a full and complete response to each supplemental question. The Supplemental Questionnaire is located in the tab marked "Supplemental Questions". Please be descriptive in your response.

Note: Responses of "See Resume" or "See Application", or copy and paste of work experience are not qualifying responses and will not be considered.

• Supplemental Questionnaires must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. on the cut-off date. Employment Services is not responsible for any issues or delays caused by an applicant's computer or web browser. Applicants will be automatically logged out if they have not submitted their applications and all documentation prior to 5:00 p.m. on the cut-off date.
• The supplemental questions are designed to elicit specific information regarding a candidate's experience, education, and training. Responses should be consistent with the information on your application and are subject to verification.
• Please provide place of employment, pertinent dates, and concise, descriptive and detailed information for each question.
• If a job included responsibilities applicable to several questions, separate the different functions of the job to answer all the questions completely.
• Resumes or referral to the application or other questionnaire responses will not be accepted in lieu of completing each question.
• If you have no experience, write "no experience" for the appropriate question.
• For many individuals, it is more efficient to develop responses to the supplemental questions in a word processing document and then paste them into the final document to be submitted. Changes or corrections to your Supplemental Questionnaire cannot be made once your application packet has been submitted.
• If the Supplemental Questionnaire is used in the Formula Rate exam, failure to complete all of the questions or incomplete responses will result in a lower score. While scoring the Supplemental Questionnaire, the candidate's application and/or attachments will not be reviewed, therefore, a candidate's responses to the questions should be accurate, thorough, detailed, and complete.

FORMULA RATE EXAMINATION (Weighted 100%)

All candidates meeting the minimum qualifications by the cut-off date will have their Supplemental Questionnaire scored in the Formula Rate Examination.

This examination will evaluate the relevance, level, recency, progression and quality of candidate's education, training and experience. The candidate's application or other materials will not be included in this examination. Therefore, the candidate's responses to the supplemental questionnaire should be thorough, detailed and complete. The score from the Formula Rate Examination will determine the ranking on the eligible/employment list for this job.

All candidates competing in the testing process will receive written notice of their examination results by email. Notices can also be accessed in their governmentjobs.com inbox. Applicants achieving a passing score will be placed on the eligible list in rank order. The rank is determined by the test score attained from the examination.

County of Sacramento

Department of Personnel Services

Employment Services Division

700 H Street, Room 4667

Sacramento, CA 95814

Phone [phone]; 7-1-1 California Relay Service

Email [e-mail]

Inter-Office Mail Code: 09-4667

www.SacCountyJobs.net

Sacramento County is about enriching communities to thrive. We strive to create inclusive workplaces that reflect the communities we serve. We value and celebrate the unique perspectives, backgrounds, abilities, and diverse dimensions of our employees and residents. Through transparency, courage, innovation, and trust we are committed to advance equity and transformational change.

We are a proud equal opportunity employer. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability for any phase of the hiring process, please contact our Disability Compliance Office at [e-mail] or 916-874-7642, CA Relay 711. For more information, visit Reasonable Accommodation Requests - Job Applicant Instructions