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Mayor Mike Coffman and the Aurora City Council have selected Pete Schulte, the current Chief of Public Safety at the Aurora City Attorney’s Office, as Aurora’s new city attorney following the retirement of the former city attorney, Dan Brotzman, in June.
“Pete is an excellent leader, a skilled mediator and a trusted lawyer,” said Mayor Coffman. “He has already helped our city navigate some of its toughest legal challenges over the last three years and I have total confidence in his ability to lead one of the largest public law offices in Colorado.”
Before Schulte joined the city in September 2021, he was a police legal advisor for a suburb of Dallas. He began his legal career almost 20 years ago as a prosecutor for the Dallas County, Texas, District Attorney’s Office. Before attending law school, Schulte was a police officer. He went to law school full time at Southern Methodist University while continuing to serve as a police officer in the Dallas area.
After serving as a prosecutor, Schulte went into private practice and built a successful law firm in the North Texas area. He has taken more than 100 criminal and civil cases through jury trials. While living in Dallas, Schulte was appointed by the Mayor of Dallas as a Chair of the City of Dallas Board of Adjustment and later served on the Dallas Planning Commission. In 2018, Schulte decided to return to the public sector as a Police Legal Advisor, which later led him to the Aurora City Attorney’s Ooffice in 2021 following a national recruitment process.
Schulte has been responsible for the legal compliance for the state consent decree Aurora is currently under. He was very involved in the negotiations of the consent decree and was the primary writer of the first draft of the decree. Aurora recently entered the “monitoring period” of the consent decree, which should last for approximately three more years.
“I am honored that Mayor Coffman and the Aurora City Council have selected me to lead our talented team at the Aurora City Attorney’s office,” said Schulte. “I am committed to transparency and being a good steward of our city’s public resources.”
Schulte is a licensed attorney in Colorado, Texas and Wyoming and maintains his peace officer certification in Colorado and Texas.
The Aurora City Council will formally vote to approve Schulte’s contract and official appointment at the regular City Council meeting Monday, Sept. 23. Schulte’s swearing in would occur at the following regular City Council meeting on Oct. 14.
The Aurora City Attorney’s Office includes a staff of approximately 65 people and is the second-largest city attorney’s office in Colorado behind Denver. The city attorney position is one of four positions appointed by the Mayor and the City Council pursuant to the Aurora City Charter.