Does Section 825 require a public entity to provide the defense?

Moreover, the introductory phrase of paragraph two of subdivision (a) of section 825 reads as a restatement of paragraph one and it explicitly provides that the public entity must provide the defense in order for the section to be applicable. The introductory clause reads: "If the public entity conducts the defense of an employee or former employee against any claim or action with his reasonable good-faith cooperation, the public entity shall pay any judgment based thereon or any compromise or settlement of the claim or action to which the public entity has agreed; ..." Appellants' argument that paragraph two refers only to the situation in which the public entity provides the defense under a reservation of rights fails; such an interpretation renders the introductory clause of the paragraph quoted above meaningless as the remainder of paragraph two concerns the situation in which defense is provided under a reservation of rights. Thus, the introductory clause would be mere surplusage if it too were interpreted to apply only to situations in which the employee was defended under a reservation of rights. Such an interpretation must be rejected; construction of a statute which renders a [10 Cal.App.4th 1118] word or phrase mere surplusage is to be avoided and "every word should be given some significance, leaving no part useless or devoid of meaning." (City and County of San Francisco v. Farrell (1982) 32 Cal.3d 47, 54, 184 Cal.Rptr. 713, 648 P.2d 935.) Therefore, construing the language of section 825 to give meaning to every word and phrase and in harmony with related statutes mandates the conclusion that the statute is directly applicable only when the public entity provides the employee's defense.