The states' attorneys general are "very interested, very concerned" about a bill passed by the 1999 Utah Legislature stripping public attorneys of their civil decision-making authority, says Utah Attorney General Jan Graham, who is in Washington, D.C., this week for meetings of the National Attorneys General Association.
Graham said Tuesday morning she's speaking on the issue two times during the four-day conference. She expects the national association to play a role in her upcoming legal challenge to the bill.Gov. Mike Leavitt as of noon Tuesday hadn't signed HB139 but was expected to do so before midnight Tuesday -- the deadline for the governor to act on bills passed by the 45-day general session.
The bill gives civil legal authority to the governor in state government and to county commissions or councils in county government, thus taking away the traditional civil decisionmaking from the attorney general and county attorneys.
Graham and the county attorneys opposed the bill, but it flew through the House and Senate basically on party-line votes -- Democrats opposed, Republicans for.
Graham is the only statewide elected Democrat in Utah. Leavitt and the majority of legislators are Republicans.