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Ohio Attorney General Seeks $4.5 million More for Outside Counsel; Controlling Board Approves
Summary
The Ohio Controlling Board approved a request from the Attorney General’s Office to increase outside counsel funding by $4.5 million. The office said the increase covers new or newly-litigated matters and that outside counsel use has decreased year over year for the same request period.
The Ohio Controlling Board on May 5 approved a $4,500,000 supplemental request for outside counsel for the Attorney General’s Office after a brief explanation from the department.
Representative Tom Sweeney questioned why the agency returned to the board so soon after a February request and asked what proportion of legal work is outsourced. Sean Busken, deputy first assistant and director of outside counsel for the Attorney General's Office, said the additional money covers “new legal matters that arise sometimes or unforeseen developments in existing legal matters,” including matters that move into litigation or trial.
Busken told the board the office measures year-to-year spending and aims to limit outside counsel when internal capacity and expertise allow. He said the current request was about $1 million less than the same request a year earlier. After questions, the board approved item 1 with no recorded objections.
The discussion distinguished day-to-day management (use of outside counsel when expertise or capacity is lacking) from the board decision to increase the appropriation. No vote tally was recorded in the transcript; the board chair declared the item approved.
