FAYETTEVILLE -- Kit Williams, city attorney for the past 13 years, announced Wednesday he plans to run for re-election.

If elected in November, it will be Williams' fourth full four-year term as the city's chief legal adviser.

Williams, 65, replaced city attorney Jerry Rose in 2001. He ran unopposed for the position in 2002, 2006 and 2010.

Williams ran a private law practice for 14 years and served as assistant Washington County prosecutor.

As city attorney, he's responsible for interpreting city code; drafting ordinances; advising members of the City Council and Planning Commission; representing the city in court; and reviewing contracts. He also oversees the city prosecutor's office.

"I work with Mayor (Lioneld) Jordan and the City Council and try to assist their policy decisions by placing them on a firm legal and constitutional foundation," Williams said. "However, I ultimately work for the Fayetteville citizens who elect me."

He said his many years of public service -- first as a member of the City Council and then as city attorney -- give him the institutional knowledge needed to effectively do his job.

"It helps to have all of that," Williams said, "because some issues, for some reason, have a way of trying to come back."

He said he was proud of working the past year with attorneys for the Walton Arts Center, University of Arkansas and Walton Family Foundation to craft changes to the Walton Arts Center's governance structure. He also mentioned he drafted the booting ordinance, which limits the amount of money companies can charge to remove wheel clamps. The ordinance withstood a challenge in Washington County Circuit Court earlier this year.

Williams has successfully defended the city's sign ordinance and parkland dedication requirements during the past decade.

Williams drafted the language aldermen approved late last year limiting the size and shape of apartments and commercial structures that can be built next to single-family homes. He helped negotiate a contract with Kum & Go convenience stores for city property where a Tyson Mexican Original factory used to be located. And he argued before the Arkansas Supreme Court in 2007 in a case involving the tax-increment financing used to pay for the demolition of the former Mountain Inn Motor Lodge at Mountain Street and College Avenue.

Conrad Odom, who served with Williams on the City Council in the early 1990s, said Wednesday, "As a city councilman, he was always very prepared. I kind of looked to him for guidance on certain issues, because I was a younger member of the City Council. As city attorney, I think he has done our community a great service in that role, and I'm glad to know he'll run again."

Unlike aldermen who run by ward, Fayetteville's city attorney is elected by voters throughout the city.

As of Wednesday, no one else had announced for the position. The filing period for municipal candidates in the Nov. 4 election is July 25 through Aug. 15.