West Riding County Prosecuting Solicitor

The following source list was originally available only on paper in one of the West Yorkshire Archive Service offices. It may have been compiled many years ago and could be out of date. It was designed to act as a signpost to records of interest on a particular historical subject, but may relate only to one West Yorkshire district, or be an incomplete list of sources available.

From 1907 until 1943 legal advice and the preparation of cases for solicitors bringing prosecutions on behalf of the West Riding County Council was undertaken as part of the work of the Clerk of the Council's department. In 1943 the office of Prosecuting Solicitor was made a distinct post and a separate county council department. In 1968 it became linked to the West Yorkshire Police Authority.

Before 1907, the legal business of the county council was undertaken by the West Riding Solicitor. On the death of the solicitor, the Finance Committee recommended in March 1907 that his staff should be incorporated in the department of the Clerk of the Council. The reorganisation involved the regrading of the existing Assistant Solicitors and the appointment of a third assistant "largely in view of the amount of Advocacy in Petty Sessional Courts throughout the Riding."

These arrangements were reviewed in 1943, following the resignation of the Clerk to the Council in January 1943. A sub-committee of the Finance Committee was established to report on the appointment of his successor and as required by the Local Government Act of 1933 to consult with the chairman of the Quarter Sessions on the appointment of the Clerk to the Council as Clerk of the Peace. Under the Local Government Act of 1888 the Clerk of the Peace also held the post of Clerk to the Council, however, new legislation in 1931 allowed the posts to be held by seperate officers.

However, the sub-committee reported in favour of allowing the Clerk of the Council to accept the office of Clerk of the Peace. The sub-committee noted it did "not desire a continuance of the practice whereby the Clerk of the Peace in his capacity as County Solicitor instructs Counsel for the Prosecution in cases heard at the Quarter Sessions." It recommended that the council appoint a prosecuting solicitor to give legal advice to the police, conduct cases brought before petty sessions on behalf of the county council and to instruct counsel in assize and quarter sessions cases.

In July 1943 it was decided to appoint a County Prosecuting Solicitor. One of the assistant solicitors in the Clerk's department was promoted to the post with a staff of two assistant solicitors and five clerks.

In 1968 the department as "a seperate office under the control of the Prosecuting Solicitor" was transferred to the newly-created West Yorkshire Police Authority, and it enlarged to meet the requirements of the new authority which administered a police force composed of the former West Riding Constabulary and the smaller borough and county borough forces.

The reference for this collection is WRD17. There are indexes of Petty Session cases 1923-1967 and Assizes cases from 1968-1971. Some records have access restrictions.