Brad Douglas appointed Las Cruces city attorney
Brad Douglas has been a one-person department in the City legal department after the previous City Attorney left the position in May - less than a year after she was hired.
Douglas was officially appointed as Las Cruces City Attorney, the city announced this week. His role became official on June 16, 2024.
Douglas has been a city employee since 2021, where he was the city's prosecutor, prosecuting cases in the Las Cruces Municipal Court and handling de novo appeals in the Third Judicial District Court as well as handling competency cases in the Third Judicial District Court.
In November 2022, Douglas began serving as acting deputy city attorney and was named interim city attorney in April 2023 after Linda Samples stepped down from the position. Samples' departure comes after she replaced Jennifer Vega-Brown who was fired by former City Manager Ifo Pili in November 2022.
Douglas is also responsible for reviewing contracts/professional service agreements for departments citywide, overseeing outside counsel handling complex litigation, and advising City Council, the City Manager, and department heads.
“Brad has been committed to the City and brings experience and stability to this role and our Legal department," City Manager Ikani Taumoepeau said in a release announcing Douglas's appointment. "He has done an outstanding job managing the Legal department through significant changes. He’s had major success in his short time as Interim City Attorney, recruiting skilled attorneys to fill positions that have been vacant for over a year and working on several public safety initiatives. I feel confident that Brad will continue to serve the City well in this capacity."
Douglas has private practice experience in criminal defense, civil litigation, family law, contract disputes, as well as experience as a public defender and Magistrate Court division supervisor at the district attorney's office. He earned a Juris Doctor cum laude from the University of Mississippi in Oxford in 2012. Douglas earned a bachelor's degree in political science/government from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Taumoepeau announced the city recently hired three senior assistant attorneys as the City looks to rebuild the office that now includes four attorney's for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. The office is still short a deputy city attorney, one paralegal and one legal assistant.“My goals in the coming months will be to place an emphasis on public safety, by working with internal staff and community partners to make Las Cruces the most livable and safest city in the area," Douglas said in a news release. "I also plan to minimize the city’s liability through working with the best outside counsel available and aggressively recruit additional highly qualified attorneys to fill vacant positions in-house that have gone unfilled for an extended period of time."
Jason Groves can be reached at 575-541-5459 or jgroves@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on X @jpgroves.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Brad Douglas appointed as Las Cruces city attorney
