8177-Attorney (Civil/Criminal)

Specific Information Regarding this Recruitment Process

Classification: 8177 Attorney

Status: Full-Time

Appointment Type: Temporary Exempt Category 18 (TEX Cat 18)

Application Opening: 12/12/2025

Application Deadline: Apply by 11:45pm on January 9, 2026

Compensation: $153,140 - $268,380/Annually

Recruitment ID: RTF

This is a Temporary Exempt- Category 18 (TEX Cat 18) for 2 ½ years

The Public Defender's office provides legal representation to persons charged with a crime in San Francisco who do not have the financial means to retain their own counsel. Each year, the office serves approximately 20,000 people. The San Francisco Public Defender's office is a nationally recognized model of public defense. The Public Defender provides legal staffing for each of the misdemeanor and felony preliminary hearing and trial courts, the Mental Health and Youth Defender Unit divisions, the Community Justice Center, Domestic Violence Court, Behavioral Health Court, Veterans' Justice Court, Drug Court, Intensive Supervision court, Parole Court, Young Adult Court, and Extradition.

The Clean Slate Unit at the Public Defender's office represents clients on post-conviction expungement matters, including vacatur motions for non-citizens under Penal Code section a)(1). Clean Slate seeks to hire an attorney who will be primarily assigned to represent all our non-citizen clients through each step of the Clean Slate process. 

Over the 2.5 year project period, the new attorney will be able to field the increase in inquiries coming from the noncitizen community and work on reducing the backlog of noncitizen cases.

Role description

Appointment Type: Temporary Exempt

Under supervision, this position in the Public Defender's Office is responsible for but not limited to:

1. Serves as a counsel to persons arrested for or convicted of crimes who are seeking recording clearing relief and are financially unable to employ counsel; represents such clients in criminal court.

2.  Represents clients at each stage of the Clean Slate process: reviews initial applications and arrest histories; consults with the Immigration Unit at the Public Defender's office to determine the appropriate record clearing relief; communicates with clients at each stage of the process; interviews clients and witnesses; conducts and/or supervises investigations and writes legal briefs; communicates with outside immigration counsel as needed; negotiates with the assigned Assistant District Attorney to achieve outcomes for clients.

3. Prepares and argues motions to vacate convictions pursuant to Penal Code section a)(1) and other record clearing statutes in the Superior Court.

4. Performs other related duties as required.

 Applicants must fully meet the minimum qualifications by the final filing deadline unless otherwise stated:

License and Certification:

Active membership in good standing with the State Bar of California.

Desirable Qualification(s):

Bilingual skills: speak, read and write in both English and another language. Note: (Bilingual Candidates moving forward in the selection process will be subject to a language proficiency test given by the City and County of San Francisco)

Note: Falsifying one's education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

All work experience, education, training and other information substantiating how you meet the minimum qualifications must be included on your application by the filing deadline. Information submitted after the filing deadline will not be considered in determining whether you meet the minimum qualifications.

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• Information About the Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview
• Equal Employment Opportunity
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams [required for Combined, Promotive, Entrance (CPE) Exams only]
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit and begin the application process.

• Select the "I'm Interested" button and follow instructions on the screen

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.