City Attorney/City Prosecutor - REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

City of St. Robert, Missouri
194 Eastlaswn Avenue, Suite A
St. Robert, MO 65584
www.saintrobert.com 
 

Request for Qualifications for City Attorney/City Prosecutor
 

1. Request for Qualifications: City Attorney/City Prosecutor

The City of St. Robert, Missouri, is seeking the services of a qualified firm to assume the responsibilities of City Attorney and/or City Prosecutor for the work described in the scope of services provided below. The City presently has arrangements with attorneys and law firms for economic development counsel and bond counsel, and intends to maintain those relationships.

2. Qualifications

The successful candidate will be an attorney or firm with a minimum of five (5) years of specific municipal law experience, licensed to practice law in the State of Missouri, and a member of the Missouri Bar in good standing. Such candidate should be a member, either as an employee or owner, of a law firm that has experience in the areas of land use/development law, personnel law, contract law, public works law, open records/open meetings law, and municipal law in general. The candidate shall have substantial knowledge of local, state, and federal laws and court decisions affecting municipalities, as well as knowledge of the organizations, functions, and activities of municipal government. Candidates shall not have any ethical or business conflicts of interest by representing clients who are adverse to the City of St. Robert, specifically, or to cities in Missouri generally.

3. Scope of Services

The City of St. Robert’s City Attorney/City Prosecutor will be expected to perform services as required by the City in a professional and timely manner. Services will vary by project and may include, but are not limited to, the following tasks:

City Attorney:

1. Serve as legal advisor to and counsel for the Mayor, Board of Aldermen, Special Committees, Boards/Commissions, Department Heads, and the City employees engaged in City business when authorized by the Mayor or City Administrator.
2. Attend all Board of Aldermen meetings and attend other meetings as assigned by the Mayor, Board of Aldermen, or City Administrator.
3. Reporting to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen and City Administrator on the status of the City’s legal matters.
4. Guide on personnel matters, including employee disciplinary, termination, and grievance matters.
5. Draft, review, or present all agreements, bonds, contracts, ordinances, resolutions, staff reports, and other written instruments pertinent to City functions or that will be considered by the Board of Aldermen or the City Administrator and provide a legal opinion as to the consequences of such documents.
6. Have experience in land use rights in Missouri and the ability to draft, review, and present legal documents relative to acquisitions, easements, variances, right-of-way, and other land uses, including property acquisition, annexation, and zoning.
7. Must be familiar with State Statutes, City Charter, City Code, Unified Development Plan, the Growth Management Plan, and Roberts Rules of Order, and be prepared to advise the Board on any matters relating to compliance with the same.
8. City Attorney and or firm will be required to attend at a minimum all regular Board of Aldermen meetings, Planning and Zoning Commission, and Board of Zoning Appeals meetings. Additional attendance at occasional work sessions and special meetings may be required.
9. Conducting and carrying on, or advising insurance counsel on all civil suits, actions, and proceedings on behalf of the City.
10. Prepare correspondence and other legal documents on behalf of the City as directed.
11. Provide legal updates, bulletins, and training to City staff as needed or as changes in the law require.

City Prosecutor:

12. Attend all municipal dockets and trials.
13. Access to a designated attorney 24/7 to be able to answer police officer questions and/or in-custody warrants or other legal questions.
14. Arrange for a mutually agreed-upon time to sign all municipal citations.
15. Provide legal updates and training for police officers and court staff as requested.
16. Consult with city departments on all ordinance violations and unified development codes.
17. Issue additional charges and recommend amendments to charges.
18. Handle all cases which are certified to the Pulaski County Circuit Court for jury trial, bench trial, or trial de novo.
19. Perform other duties and responsibilities relating to the municipal court which are typical for a prosecuting attorney, including but not limited to processing municipal citations, signing information, etc.
20. Provide recommendations that would determine the need for a court-appointed attorney.
21. Prepare subpoenas for the court.
22. Make recommendations regarding internal core processes and case dispositions.
23. Conduct plea agreements.

4. General Information Regarding the City of St. Robert, Missouri

The City of St. Robert is a friendly, livable, and vibrant community located at the Front Gate of Fort Leonard Wood, on Missouri Avenue and along I-44 and has approximately 5,600 residents who make their home in this beautiful community in Pulaski County. The City is a 4^th Class City, governed by a Mayor and Board of Aldermen, with a City Administrator responsible for the daily administration of all City functions. This includes general management, personnel administration, and risk management. As a community, St. Robert strives to maintain growth in proximity to a large metropolitan area, promoting friendliness and the community spirit of a small town.

Policy making and legislative authority are vested in our eight-member Board of Aldermen. The Mayor and City Administrator are responsible for carrying out the policies and ordinances of the Board of Aldermen and overseeing the day-to-day operations of the City. The Board of Aldermen and the Mayor are elected on a nonpartisan basis. The Mayor is elected in a city-wide election for a two-year term. Board members are elected to two-year staggered terms, with four Board members elected every two years. The City is divided into four wards, each with four members.

5. Organization of the Response

Responses should include responses to each of the following items. Please construct your response with reactions in the same order as listed below to facilitate review and comparison by the review committee. Do not include fees in the reaction. The City intends to negotiate fees with the selected firm based on qualifications.

5. 1. 1. Provide a general profile of the firm and identify the primary office serving the City of St. Robert.
      2. Provide a statement of qualifications confirming the attorney’s or firm’s satisfaction with the qualifications listed in Section II.
      3. Identify the professional staff assigned to work with the City, indicating the lead representative. Attach relevant experience for each assigned staff member.
      4. Outline your firm’s experience in providing city attorney/city prosecutor services as outlined in Section III and briefly summarize three representative projects that illustrate your experience.
      5. Explain any other relevant qualifications.
      6. Demonstrate your experience working with communities that have comparable characteristics to the City. List up to five (5) references from these communities, including names, addresses, and phone numbers of contact persons.
      7. All respondents will be required to submit evidence of professional liability insurance at the limits required by the City of St. Robert and disclose any applicable deductible amount.
6. Submissions of Qualifications
   1. 1. The firm must submit five (5) copies of each of its responses to the City Administrator, Anita Ivey, no later than _4_:00 P.M., February 2, 2026. All responses shall include, at a minimum, the information requested in Section V above, and in Appendix A. The address and telephone number for response submission are:

City of St. Robert
C/O: Anita Ivey, City Administrator
194 Eastlawn Avenue, Suite A
St. Robert, Missouri, 65584
Phone: (573) 451-3310

6. 1. 2. All responses must be signed by a duly authorized individual, and each response shall state the name of the primary contact for the respondent.
7. Terms and Conditions
   1. 1. The City of St. Robert reserves the right to reject any or all responses or to award the contract to the next most qualified attorney if the successful attorney does not execute a contract within thirty (30) days after the award of the response.
      2. All responses shall become the property of the City of St. Robert and the City may, at its option, request oral presentation prior to selection; notification in writing will be given if such meetings are required. No public bid opening will be held. A listing of firms, names representing the responses received will be available on February 2, 2025, but will be provided only upon request.
      3. Anita Ivey, City Administrator, shall be the primary source of contact at the City for your firm during the Request for Qualifications and selection process. Anita Ivey will coordinate appointments with staff and/or the Selection Committee to answer any questions or set up interviews. Communications with other City of St. Robert staff members or with members of the City of St. Robert Board of Aldermen will constitute automatic rejection of that firm’s response.
      4. The City of St. Robert reserves the right to request clarification of the information submitted and to request additional information of one or more applicants.
      5. Any response may be withdrawn up until the date and time set above for the opening of the responses. Any responses not withdrawn shall constitute an irrevocable offer, for a period of 90 days, to provide the City of St. Robert the services set forth in the attached specifications, or until one or more of the responses have been approved by the City.
      6. Any agreement or contract resulting from the acceptance of a response shall be on forms either supplied by or approved by the City of St. Robert, and shall contain, as a minimum, applicable provisions of the Request for Qualifications. The City reserves the right to reject any agreement that does not conform to the Request for Qualifications and any City requirements for agreements and contracts.
      7. The selected firm(s) shall not subcontract or assign any interest in the contract and shall not transfer any interest in the same without prior written consent of the City of St. Robert.
      8. All costs associated with the preparation of a response in response to the Request for Qualifications shall be the responsibility of the firm submitting the response.
      9. The selected firm(s) will be required to provide evidence that they have in force professional liability insurance of a minimum of $1,000,000 with a maximum $50,000 deductible.
      10. The Attorney will be expected to meet with City of St. Robert officials at City offices as needed during the course of service engagements.
      11. As this is a Request for Qualifications and not a bid, the City of St. Robert reserves the right to negotiate with any party and on any matter.
8. Interviews

The City of St. Robert may select two or more firms for oral presentations. Each firm will give a 20-minute presentation summarizing their qualifications and their approach to the services to be provided. The presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer period. The individuals who will be assigned to the provision of services will be expected to make the oral presentation.

9. Evaluation of Responses

An evaluation committee shall be used to evaluate the responses. The committee shall evaluate the responses based on the following criteria:

1. 1. 1. Quality of the response and completeness of response to the Request for Response
      2. Relevance of experience cited for the tasks outlined in the Scope of Services
      3. Experience and creativity in providing attorney services to local governments of comparable characteristics to the City of St. Robert
      4. Experience of staff assigned to serve the City of St. Robert
      5. Proven ability to provide other city attorney and/or city prosecutor services
      6. References

10. Schedule of Events

The City of St. Robert has developed the following schedule of events for selection:

All questions regarding this Request for Qualifications are to be directed to:

All respondents should be aware that any communication with other City of St. Robert officials, either elected or appointed, after the date of this request will cause that firm’s response to be automatically rejected.

Appendix A: General Questions

1. Candidate (primary contact) Name
   1. Education (undergraduate; postgraduate)
   2. Areas of legal emphasis
   3. Years of Practice
   4. Bar membership
   5. Professional memberships and affiliations
2. Firm Name
   1. Address and phone numbers of managing office
   2. Areas of legal emphasis
   3. Number of attorneys
   4. Number of attorneys practicing municipal law (if exclusive, please indicate)
   5. Brief history
   6. Satellite location
3. List specific reasons (no more than 1 page) you and your firm should be considered for City Attorney and/or City Prosecutor.
4. Provide at least five (5) municipal references from prior or current clients, including contract name and telephone number.
5. Define the standard time frames for response by the city attorney to inquiries from the Mayor, City Administrator or Department Head.
6. Describe how you and your firm would familiarize yourself with the current issues facing the City of St. Robert.