County Board members didn’t need to look far to find their next county attorney.
Board members voted 4-0, with Julius “JD” Spain, Sr., absent, to appoint Ryan Samuel to the post yesterday (Tuesday). Samuel has served in the county attorney’s office since 2018 and, since the departure in September of his predecessor MinhChau Corr, was acting county attorney.
Samuel offers “a remarkable dedication to public service” and “a deep understanding of the current and future county priorities,” Board Chair Takis Karantonis said once the selection was finalized.
“I am very happy with the final outcome of this process,” Karantonis told Samuel. “You definitely have the trust of this Board.”
Board member Susan Cunningham said she believed Samuel would bring “independent thought, strategic advising and a focus on the people of Arlington” to the job.
Board member Matt de Ferranti, the only attorney on the five-member Board, said he was initially inclined to support someone from outside the office to fill the post, but changed his mind in the end.
“Over time, our community will benefit significantly from your leadership,” de Ferranti said to Samuel.
Samuel will oversee a staff of 19, including 14 attorneys. The office has a budget of $4.65 million.
The post is one of very few that reports directly to the County Board, rather than up a leadership chain to County Manager Mark Schwartz.
“I’m very honored to be appointed as county attorney, and I’m extremely grateful for the Board’s trust,” Samuel said after the vote. “I’m very energized.”
Samuel joined the county attorney’s office in 2018 and was tapped as deputy county attorney in January 2022. He holds a law degree from Wake Forest University School of Law.
Before coming to Arlington, Samuel had served as an assistant city attorney in Chesapeake.
Corr left the post in September after four years to become general counsel at Virginia Railway Express. There, she succeeded Stephen MacIsaac — who, in turn, had preceded Corr as Arlington’s county attorney.
