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DOJ civil recovery asks for two attorneys to handle surge in wildfire cost-recovery cases; expects $65M tobacco settlement payment
Summary
The civil enforcement division told lawmakers wildfire litigation has tripled since early 2020 and asked for two attorney positions; the division also noted charities oversight is fee-funded and expects $65 million from the tobacco master settlement this year.
Claudia Groberg, chief counsel for the Department of Justice's civil enforcement division, told the Public Safety subcommittee that the civil recovery unit has seen a marked increase in wildfire-related work since the 2020 fire season and is requesting two additional attorney positions to handle the growth and complexity of cases.
Groberg said civil recovery represents multiple state agencies — including the Oregon Department of Forestry — in wildfire investigations and cost-recovery work such as suppression, ash and debris cleanup, hazard tree removal and damage to state property. "The fire season 02/2020 marked a significant escalation in the work," she said, adding that attorney and staff hours on wildfires have "tripled since 02/2020." Groberg said the section had to hire outside counsel at higher rates because of capacity limits and that doing more work in-house would reduce overall costs.
Tobacco settlement and charities oversight: Groberg noted the tobacco enforcement unit is funded by a portion of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement and that Oregon expects the annual settlement payment of about $65,000,000 this year. She also said the charities oversight section receives no general fund dollars and is funded entirely through registration and license fees paid by regulated organizations.
Scope and workload: Groberg said half of the civil recovery attorneys handle litigation for state agencies in state, federal, tribal and bankruptcy courts; the other half provide legal representation to the Division of Child Support and handle tobacco enforcement. She told the committee the civil recovery team currently represents the state in 36 counties and has approximately 440 other active fire-related cases in addition to the post‑2020 surge.
Ending: Groberg asked the committee to consider the additional attorney authority to reduce outsourcing costs and sustain legal capacity in wildfire and multi-agency cost-recovery matters.
