Compendium of Budget Information for the 2012 General Session

Executive Offices & Criminal Justice
Appropriations Subcommittee

Function

The Contract Attorneys line item tracks costs of outside attorneys and expert witnesses hired by the A.G. in cases where a conflict of interest exists, where the Legislature has specifically requested outside legal representation, or when the requisite legal expertise on specific issues is not available in the A.G. office.

Statutory Authority

Statutory Authority for the Contract Attorney line item is found in UCA 67-5-5. The code states, "Unless he hires such legal counsel from outside his office, the attorney general shall remain the sole legal counsel for that agency. If outside counsel is hired for an agency, then the costs of any services to be rendered by this counsel shall be approved by the attorney general before these costs are incurred."

Intent Language

Under section 63J-1-603 of the Utah Code, the Legislature intends that appropriations provided for the Attorney General - Contract Attorneys in Item 9 of Chapter 2 Laws of Utah 2010 not lapse at the close of Fiscal Year 2011.

Funding Detail

The Contract Attorney line item has only one program. Any General Fund in this line item represents estimates of outside counsel costs for cases of a general statewide nature. The $1 million appropriation in FY 2011 represents the first year's costs to settle the Pelt case. The FY 2012 appropriation of $5 million represents the second installment of the settlement and has been paid; the remaining obligation is $13.5 million in each of FY 2013 and FY 2014. Dedicated credits funding represents reimbursements from state agencies that benefit from litigation for which outside counsel is used.

The FY 2009 beginning nonlapsing balance does not match the FY 2008 ending nonlapsing balance because the Legislature swept $300,000 from the balance during the September 2008 Special Session.

Sources of Finance	2008 Actual	2009 Actual	2010 Actual	2011 Actual	2012 Approp
General Fund, One-time	$162,200	$0	$0	$1,000,000	$5,000,000
Dedicated Credits Revenue	$1,041,600	$772,800	$597,800	$580,700	$300,000
Beginning Nonlapsing	$458,900	$78,000	$77,400	$63,000	$0
Closing Nonlapsing	($378,000)	($77,400)	($63,000)	($51,400)	$0
Total	$1,284,700	$773,400	$612,200	$1,592,300	$5,300,000

Programs:	2008 Actual	2009 Actual	2010 Actual	2011 Actual	2012 Approp
Contract Attorneys	$1,284,700	$773,400	$612,200	$1,592,300	$5,300,000
Total	$1,284,700	$773,400	$612,200	$1,592,300	$5,300,000

Categories of Expenditure	2008 Actual	2009 Actual	2010 Actual	2011 Actual	2012 Approp
Current Expense	$1,284,700	$773,400	$612,200	$1,592,300	$300,000
Other Charges/Pass Thru	$0	$0	$0	$0	$5,000,000
Total	$1,284,700	$773,400	$612,200	$1,592,300	$5,300,000

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