About Pete Holmes

Pete Holmes graduated from Yale College in 1978 with a B.A. degree in American Studies and a concentration in Energy and Environmental Sciences. He worked for the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, D.C., before entering the University of Virginia School of Law, where he earned his J.D. in 1984.

Pete worked as a private attorney in Seattle for almost 25 years before he was elected City Attorney in November 2009. He was an original member of the Seattle Police Department's Office of Professional Accountability Review Board (OPARB) and served as chairman from 2003 to 2008. There he championed the public release of police records and OPARB reports. As City Attorney he has worked to make the office more transparent. He is a member of the State Sunshine Committee.

Welcome

My office is committed to providing the City of Seattle and its people with the highest caliber legal advice to help protect the health, safety, welfare, and civil rights of all. This website is intended to help make the Law Department more open and accessible to the people it serves and to increase the public's understanding of our work.

With more than 90 attorneys, the City's Law Department is one of the largest law offices in Seattle.

  Seattle City Attorney's 2011 Annual Report

The Law Department is divided into four major Divisions:

The Civil Division represents the City in lawsuits and advises City officials as they develop programs, projects, policies, and legislation. The sections within the Civil Division include torts (claims), governmental affairs, land use, environmental protection, labor and employment, and contracts/utilities.

The Criminal Division represents the City in prosecuting traffic infractions, misdemeanors, and gross misdemeanors in Seattle Municipal Court. The types of cases prosecuted by the Criminal Division include driving under the influence, traffic infractions, misdemeanor domestic violence, misdemeanor theft, and trespassing.

The Administration Division staff provide budgeting, accounting, human resource, clerical and information technology services for the City Attorney's Office.

The Precinct Liaison Division assigns an assistant city attorney as a liaison to each of the City’s five police precincts as another way of addressing public safety and neighborhood livability problems.

The City Attorney, as an elected official, is accountable to the people of Seattle. As your City Attorney, I take this responsibility to heart and strive to ensure that my office always represents the public's interest.