City Attorney's Office

Chris Towle is Newton's City Attorney. The City Attorney is the primary legal representative of the City and is directly responsible for providing legal representation and legal advice and assistance to the City Commission, officers and employees in the course of their duties.

City governmental functions entail a wide range of potential legal issues for which the City Attorney has responsibility, including:

• Numerous federal and state laws and agencies that regulate or impact local government
• Drafting of ordinances and resolutions
• Contract negotiation, preparation and review
• Real estate, construction, and environmental law
• Constitutional laws and protections
• Civil litigation (including pre-litigation advice and investigation)
• Development planning and issues
• Employment law issues
• Election issues
• Open Record and Open Meeting Issues.
• Finance issues (e.g., bond financing)
• Enforcement of local laws and regulations
• Ethics
• Conflict of interest statutes
• General statutory advice and interpretation

2024 Law Department Annual Report(PDF, 437KB)

Staff Qualifications and Experience

Chris Towle is a 2008 graduate of Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, California. He has served in the City of Newton’s Law Department since 2011. In 2016, he was appointed as City Attorney by the Newton City Commission.

Education

• B.S., Hotel Administration, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (2002)
• J.D., Thomas Jefferson School of Law (2008)

Bar Admissions

• 2010 - Kansas
• 2009 - California (Inactive Status)

Representative Cases

• City of Newton v. Waldschmidt, 364 P.3d 970 (2016) (Unpublished)

Professional Associations

• City Attorneys Association of Kansas
• International Municipal Lawyers Association
• Harvey County Bar Association
• Wichita Bar Association