City 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 attaining both a city and district attorney, the two positions are separate and serve different purposes.

The City Attorney is assisted by a number of Assistant City Attorneys.

History

The present City Attorney position 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 Agnost. Dennis Herrera, incumbent since 2001, is the first Latino City Attorney in San Francisco's history.

The first woman to serve as Assistant City Attorney was Claribel David, who was appointed in 1905.

The San Francisco City Attorney's Office has been described by American Lawyer magazine as "one of the most aggressive and talented city law departments in the nation."

List of Teams

• Airport (located at SFO)
• Child Protection and Family Services
• Code Enforcement
• Contracts & Construction
• Complex Litigation
• Energy and Telecommunications
• Ethics & Elections
• Finance and Real Estate
• Government
• Health & Human Services
• Labor
• Land Use
• Litigation
• Port (located at Pier 1 in San Francisco)
• Public Utilities
• Taxation
• Transportation
• Workers' Compensation

List of City Attorneys

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

City Attorneys before fusion

• Harry T. Creswell (1893 - 1898)
• Frank M. Pixley (1851 - 1852)