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Committee backs amendment letting certain agencies seek their own attorneys; HB1601 moves from committee
Summary
Lawmakers debated House Bill 1601, which would allow some state entities to hire and retain in-house attorneys rather than relying on the attorney general’s office for special assistant appointments. The committee adopted amendments narrowing the list and later voted a recommendation to pass.
Representative Emily O’Brien’s bill, House Bill 1601, would allow specified agencies and constitutional officers to hire their own attorneys — subject to appropriations and personnel procedures — rather than relying solely on special assistant attorneys general embedded in the attorney general’s office.
Mary Kay Kelsch, assistant attorney general, told the committee that many organizations already receive representation from the attorney general’s office and that statutory language already places limits on revoking special assistant appointments. She described how agencies currently coordinate with the attorney general’s office and warned that giving every…
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