Opinion No. (1997)

DANIEL E. LUNGREN Attorney General GREGORY L. GONOT Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE THOMAS JEFFRY, JR., COUNTY COUNSEL, COUNTY OF ALPINE, has requested an opinion on the following question: May a county board of supervisors, in appointing a person to the office of district attorney to serve the remainder of the term of the prior officeholder, waive the requirement that the appointed officer be a citizen of the State of California? CONCLUSION A county board of supervisors, in appointing a person to the office of district attorney to serve the remainder of the term of the prior officeholder, may not waive the requirement that the appointed officer be a citizen of the State of California. ANALYSIS We are informed that a district attorney has resigned in a sparsely populated, rural county that borders the State of Nevada. Many residents in the eastern portion of the county regularly travel to and from Nevada for goods and services. The board of supervisors is considering the appointment of a person who resides in Nevada to serve out the remainder of the former district attorney's term of office. May the board do so? We conclude that the appointee must be a resident of…