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Senate passes transparency guidelines for AG’s use of outside counsel after divided votes on procurement language
Summary
Senate amended and advanced SB209 to require the Attorney General's Office to adopt rules and report on guidelines for retaining outside counsel, expert witnesses and litigation support; senators approved parts 1 and 3 of an amendment and rejected part 2, reflecting disagreement about applying the procurement code to outside‑counsel retention.
Senator Adams presented first substitute Senate Bill 209 to provide transparency guidelines for the Attorney General’s Office when retaining outside counsel, expert witnesses and litigation support. Adams proposed Amendment No.1, which included several parts: requiring a rule, setting a reporting deadline and specifying the role of the procurement code.
Senators debated whether applying procurement‑code processes to retain outside counsel would be practical in ongoing litigation. Senator Valentine asked whether part 2 of the amendment — which would more directly import procurement code procedures — would prematurely constrain the AG’s ability to retain counsel in active cases. Adams said the amendment reflected consensus from parties involved but welcomed further adjustments.
The Senate voted on the amendment by division: parts 1 and 3 passed; part 2 failed on a separate vote. After the amendment vote, the substitute SB209 as amended was placed at the bottom of the third‑reading calendar (27 yeas, 0 nays, 2 absent). The sponsor asked that the AG’s Office complete the rule and submit a report by Aug. 1, 2012.
