Can the District Attorney bring a civil action against the County Counsel?

[229 Cal.App.3d 948] Notwithstanding Government Code sections 26529 and 27642, certain functions not amounting to the prosecution of a criminal offense may nevertheless fall within the ambit of the district attorney's prosecutorial role, and therefore may be performed by the district attorney even where there is a county counsel. As clarified by an opinion of the Attorney General: "Noncriminal actions are not necessarily 'civil actions' under [Government Code section 26529]. The courts have held in several instances that cases which might normally be considered civil are actually the responsibility of the district attorney. Primary responsibility for noncriminal actions or proceedings turns on whether they would be 'in aid of and auxiliary to the criminal law' (Board of Supervisors v. Simpson, 36 Cal.2d 671, 674 [227 P.2d 14] ) because the district attorney, as public prosecutor, must closely supervise transactions related to enforcement of the criminal law...." (38 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 121, 122 (1961).) In Board of Supervisors v. Simpson (1951) 36 Cal.2d 671, 674, 227 P.2d 14, the court held the district attorney and not the county counsel had the responsibility to bring civil red-light abatement actions which were compatible with his duties as public prosecutor.