A county attorney in many areas of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 is the chief legal officer

Chief Legal Officer

A chief legal officer is the highest-ranking corporate officer concerning legal affairs of a corporation or agency. Chief legal officers typically hold the title of general counsel.- Skill requirements :...

 for a county

County (United States)

In the United States, a county is a geographic subdivision of a state , usually assigned some governmental authority. The term "county" is used in 48 of the 50 states; Louisiana is divided into parishes and Alaska into boroughs. Parishes and boroughs are called "county-equivalents" by the U.S...

 or local judicial district. It is usually an elected position. The role of the county attorney can be similar to or complementary to that of a local State's Attorney

State's Attorney

In the United States, the State's Attorney is, most commonly, an elected official who represents the State in criminal prosecutions and is often the chief law enforcement officer of their respective county, circuit...

, Commonwealth's Attorney

Commonwealth's Attorney

Commonwealth's Attorney is the title given to the elected prosecutor of felony crimes in Kentucky and Virginia. Other states refer to similar prosecutors as District Attorney or State's Attorney....

 or District Attorney

District attorney

In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...

.

In some jurisdictions, the county attorney oversees the operations of local prosecutors with respect to violations of county ordinances. In other jurisdictions, the county attorney prosecutes traffic matters and/or misdemeanors.