City Attorney of San Francisco

History

Prior to 1856, the City of San Francisco had a city attorney but no district attorney, while the County of San Francisco (encompassing the territory of the city and more) had a district attorney but no county attorney. After the city-county consolidation in July 1856, the incumbent city and district attorneys continued as "attorney and counsellor" and "district attorney" respectively, each of the new "City and County of San Francisco". The 1854 city attorney election had been marred by allegations of ballot stuffing, and in 1857 was appointed by the Board of Supervisors. An 1862 act of the California State Legislature made the position of city attorney subject to popular election every two years.

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 George Agnost.

List of City Attorneys

;Ayuntamiento attorney during interim government of California:

• Archibald Carey Peachy (1849–50) ;City attorney:
• Thomas H. Holt (1850–51)
• Frank M. Pixley (1851–52)
• Charles McC. Delany (Jan–Nov 1852)
• John K. Hackett (1852–53)
• Solomon A. Sharp (1853–54)
• Lorenzo Sawyer (1854–55)
• Balie Peyton (1855–56) ;City and county attorney:
• Balie Peyton (1856–57)
• (1857–1860)
• (1860–1861)
• John H. Saunders (1861–66)
• Horace M. Hastings (1866–69)
• Joseph M. Nougues (1869–71)
• Wellington Cleveland Burnett (1871–80)
• John Luttrell Murphy (1880–82)
• Jabez F. Cowdery (1882–83)
• William Craig (1883–85)
• John Lord Love (1885–87)
• George Flournoy, Jr. (1887–91)
• John H. Durst (1891–93)
• Harry T. Creswell (1893–1898)
• James L. Gallagher (1898–1899)
• Franklin Knight Lane (1899–1902)
• Percy V. Long (1902–1906)
• William G. Burke (1906–1908)
• Percy V. Long (1908–1916)
• George Lull (1916–1926)
• John J. O'Toole (1926–1949)
• Dion R. Holm (1949–1961)
• Thomas Martin O'Connor (1961–1977)
• George Agnost (1977–1986)
• Philip Ward (1986)
• Louise Renne (1986–2001)
• Dennis Herrera (2002–2021)
• David Chiu (2021–present)

Sources

References

References

1. "SEC. 6.102. City Attorney.". American Legal Publishing.
2. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 pp. 1304–1305
3. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 pp. 1304–1305, 1326
4. (1966). "San Francisco's reign of terror". Doubleday.
5. Shuck 1901 pp. 400–401
6. [https://books.google.ie/books?id=_blAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA99 California Act 110 of 1862] ''An Act providing for an Attorney and Counsellor in and for the City and County of San Francisco''
7. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 p. 1294; Shuck 1901 pp. 401–402
8. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 pp. 1297, 1304
9. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 p. 1304
10. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 pp. 1300, 1304
11. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 pp. 1301, 1304
12. Shuck 1901 p. 569
13. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 p. 1305
14. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 pp. 1305, 1326
15. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 pp. 1327–1328
16. Shuck 1901 p. 507
17. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 p. 1328
18. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 pp. 1328–1330
19. Shuck 1901 p. 860; San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 pp. 1330–1331
20. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 pp. 1331, 1334; Shuck 1889 p. 301
21. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 pp. 1334–1335, 1338–1339
22. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 p. 1344
23. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 p. 1345
24. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 p. 1350
25. Shuck 1889 p. 531
26. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 pp. 1351, 1356
27. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 pp. 1356–1357
28. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 pp. 1357, 1362–1363
29. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 p. 1363
30. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 pp. 1363, 1427
31. San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1911 p. 1427