Karen Kajmowicz discusses some of the roles that a state's attorney usually has.

1. 3 Roles of
State's
Attorney
Karen Kajmowicz

2. 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.

3. 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.
CRIMINAL
PROSECUTION

4. 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.
LEGAL
ADVISOR

5. 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.
DEBT COLLECTOR
AND CIVIL
PROSECUTER

6. THANKS!
Website: KarenKajmowicz.com
Twitter: @KarenKajmowicz
LinkedIn: Karen Kajmowicz