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Committee advances bill letting county officials hire outside counsel amid concerns about 'shopping' for opinions
Summary
House Bill 3749 would allow county clerks, court clerks and county commissioners to retain outside counsel for matters in their official capacity. Sponsors argued the change provides parity and relieves district attorney workload; some members warned it could enable shopping for favorable legal opinions.
Representative Travis presented House Bill 3749, saying the measure would formally allow county clerks, county court clerks and each county commissioner to retain outside counsel for professional matters relevant to their offices.
"This is just kinda given us, it kinda provides parity," Travis said, arguing the change would reduce burden on overworked district attorney offices and give county officials access to specialized legal advice.
Representative Fugate and others questioned whether the proposal duplicates existing DA services and whether it risks officials shopping for legal opinions. "Why is it that we should allow taxpayer dollars to be spent doing the same thing that the DA's already provide?" Fugate asked.
Travis responded that many district attorney offices—especially in more populous counties—are focused on criminal matters and that the change would let officials get specialized civil advice when needed. The sponsor said he would entertain guardrails to address potential conflicts.
The committee voted 9-1 to report HB 3749 as 'do pass.' The action note recorded a single nay; no member names were recorded in the vote text in the transcript.
What happens next: The bill was reported out with a recommendation to pass; members asked the sponsor to consider guardrails to prevent conflicts of interest or self-approval of contracts by commissioners.
