Countywide : Supervisors Name New Chief Lawyer

The Board of Supervisors on Thursday named Terry C. Andrus, a deputy county attorney, as the government’s new chief lawyer, ending a three-month search to fill an upcoming vacancy in that post.

Andrus, who has worked for the county intermittently since 1974, will replace Adrian Kuyper. Kuyper announced his retirement last year and will leave office on March 21 after holding the job for 27 years.

“Terry has earned the confidence and trust of his colleagues and this board,” Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez said in a prepared statement Thursday. “We look forward to his insightful counsel.”

Andrus’ appointment came despite Kuyper’s public support for William J. McCourt, the chief assistant county counsel. Board members conducted their review of possible successors to Kuyper in closed session, however, and typically refuse to comment on their reasons for personnel decisions.

The board will take formal action on Andrus’ appointment and salary next week, Vasquez’s statement said.

Andrus is a graduate of the University of Michigan, and he received his law degree from the Loyola University School of Law. He also holds a master’s degree in library science from the University of Southern California.

As a deputy county counsel, he has overseen issues such as conflict of interest questions and land-use matters. He serves as the legal adviser to the Local Agency Formation Commission, the panel that rules on city boundary questions.

Andrus and his family live in Newport Beach.