An expert in municipal law — and a former candidate for the city council —  will be the next city attorney for Bainbridge Island, city officials announced Tuesday.

Joe Levan, 50, will take over as the city’s top legal advisor in September.

Levan replaces Lisa Marshall, who has been the city attorney since June 2014.

Marshall is quitting to take a job as the new city attorney for Burien. It’s a homecoming of sorts for the lawyer; Marshall had previously served as an attorney for the city of nearly 50,000 just north of SeaTac before she became a contract attorney for T-Mobile in 2012.

Marshall is leaving after roughly two years in the position. Levan had also applied for the city attorney job on Bainbridge when the post became vacant two years ago. He emerged as the top runner-up for the job as the city narrowed a list of five finalists to two before Marshall was picked for the post.

Levan has lived on Bainbridge Island since 1995. He currently is a staff lawyer for Municipal Research & Services Center, an independent non-profit in Seattle that provides advice and research assistance to municipalities across Washington. He has also served as the city attorney for Maple Valley, and previously worked as assistant city attorney for Maple Valley, Sammamish and Duvall.

His other experience includes working as a legal consultant and as part of the in-house legal team for Sound Transit.

Levan also served as a legislative aide for U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, U.S. Rep. Jolen Unsoeld and U.S. Rep. John W. Cox Jr.

“We are very pleased to welcome Joe Levan to our team,” said City Manager Doug Schulze.

“In addition to bringing a wealth of experience, as a longtime Bainbridge Island resident, Joe also brings a local perspective to the position,” Schulze said.

Levan is no stranger to Bainbridge Island City Hall.

He ran for a position on the city council in 2011, and came in second in a four-way August primary race to David Ward, who went on to win the council seat that November.

More recently, he was one of the candidates for an appointment to the council in December 2014, after Ward resigned at the close of a Superior Court lawsuit over council members’ unlawful use of their private email accounts to conduct city business.

Levan was one of six candidates for the appointment, which eventually went to Mike Scott.

Levan takes over as city attorney on Sept. 15.

He will be paid an annual salary of $134,870.

Marshall’s current salary is $142,667.