The Attorney General is the constitutional legal officer of the state, who serves as counsel in all cases in which the state or its officers are a party, and provides legal services for the state. The Attorney General's mission is to uphold the constitutions of the United States and of Utah, enforce the law, provide counsel to state agencies and public officials, work with law enforcement, and protect the interests of Utah, its people, environment and resources. The office's goals are to protect people from crime, protect children from abuse and neglect, protect the state as an entity, and protect the state's natural resources.
Funding History
Appropriation Overview
During the 2015 General Session, the Legislature appropriated for Fiscal Year 2016, $63,236,500 from all sources for Attorney General. This is a 7.4 percent increase from Fiscal Year 2015 revised estimated amounts from all sources. The total includes $37,679,200 from the General/Education Funds, an increase of 13.9 percent from revised Fiscal Year 2015 estimates.
Appropriation Adjustments
In addition to statewide compensation and internal service fund cost increases, the following appropriation adjustments were made during the 2015 General Session:
DescriptionOngoingOne-Time
Child and Family Amendments$4,900$0
Children's Justice Centers Amendments$80,000$0
Children's Justice Centers Forensic Interviewing$350,000$0
Citizens Communication Portal ($200,000)$0
Constitutional Defense Attorney$200,000$0
Evans Case Settlements$0$165,000
Executive Compensation$47,600 ($47,600)
Expand Attorney General Staff$728,100$0
IT/Case Management System$300,000$800,000
Legal Fees - Endangered Species$0$1,000,000
Parent and Child Amendments$11,900$0
Prosecution Council Conference Fees$16,700$31,800
Salary Equity Adjustments$1,247,700$0
Utah Navajo Royalties Amendments$42,300$0
White Collar Crime Registry$17,000$25,000
OngoingOne-TimeFinancing Source
$4,900$0General Fund
Enactment of this legislation likely will not materially impact state revenue.
Assuming about 5 cases annually, enactment of this bill could create total ongoing costs of $25,000 from the General Fund for the following agencies beginning in FY 2016: 1. Courts - $5,300 - for processing hearings, 2. Attorney General - $4,900 - for attorney representation, and 3. Guardian ad Litem (GAL) - $3,700 - for attorney representation, and 4. Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) - $11,100 - for evaluations.
OngoingOne-TimeFinancing Source
$80,000$0General Fund
Enactment of this legislation likely will not materially impact state revenue.
Enactment of this legislation could cost the Attorney General $80,000 from the General Fund beginning in FY16 to support two new Children's Justice Centers, one in Beaver County and one in Kane County.
OngoingOne-TimeFinancing Source
$350,000$0General Fund
This RFA provides additional funding to Children's Justice Centers to support forensic interviewing at centers statewide. It is sponsored by Rep. Francis Gibson.
OngoingOne-TimeFinancing Source
($200,000)$0General Fund
The Citizens Communication Portal was designed and implemented as a public report of local instances of crime. An internet search returns more than 6 commercial sites on the first page of results that offer the same service. Many local law enforcement agencies, including the Salt Lake City Police Department, also provide this service. In the last fiscal year, $50,000 of the $200,000 appropriation was spent on the VINE program, which notifies victims when the person who committed a crime against them will be released from prison.
OngoingOne-TimeFinancing Source
$200,000$0General Fund
This is a reallocation from base budget reductions. The Attorney General offered the Citizens Communication Portal as a budget reduction and requested replacing it with funding for a constitutional defense attorney, which was part of their budget request for 4 new attorneys and 1 paralegal. (That request was reduced by $200,000 in the prioritized ongoing list from EOCJ).
OngoingOne-TimeFinancing Source
$0$165,000General Fund, One-time
The Evans case settlement was the result of the Amendment 3 marriage suit against the State of Utah. $115,000 is the settlement amount that has been paid to the five plaintiffs in the case. In addition, the Office requests $50,000 in appropriations for costs incurred by the Office in defending the case.
OngoingOne-TimeFinancing Source
$47,600$0General Fund
$0 ($47,600)General Fund, One-time
H.B. 368 - Executive Office Compensation (Rep. Wilson)
Increases Governor salary from $109,900 to $150,000 beginning Jan. 2017.
Also adjusts salary for Lt. Governor, Attorney General, State Treasurer, and State Auditor (as a percentage of the Governor's salary).
Fiscal note is $184,900 ongoing GF and $32,400 from dedicated credits, but due to the delayed implementation, 100% would be backed out one-time for FY 2016 and 50% would be backed out one-time for FY 2017.
OngoingOne-TimeFinancing Source
$728,100$0General Fund
The Attorney General's Office requests additional funding for new staff: four attorneys and one paralegal. The Office's original request was for $928,100 ongoing. The Governor's budget allotted $438,100 in ongoing funding. The request amount was reduced to $728,100, as $200,000 was reallocated from the Citizens Communication Portal to fund one of the requested staff persons, a constitutional defense attorney.
OngoingOne-TimeFinancing Source
$300,000$0General Fund
$0$800,000General Fund, One-time
The Attorney General's Office requests funding to implement a new electronic case and document management system. The Office's request is for $800,000 one-time and $300,000 ongoing. The Governor's budget allotted $200,000 in one-time funding. Ongoing funds include software licensing and additional staff, namely an IT professional and a paralegal to serve as expert support.
OngoingOne-TimeFinancing Source
$0$1,000,000General Fund, One-time
This RFA covers legal fees related to endangered species litigation. This RFA is sponsored by Sen. Kevin Van Tassell.
OngoingOne-TimeFinancing Source
$11,900$0General Fund
Enactment of this legislation likely will not materially impact state revenue.
Assuming about 60 shelter and other removal hearings cases, enactment of this bill could create total ongoing costs of about $52,900 from the General Fund for the following agencies beginning in FY 2016: 1. Courts - $32,000 - for processing hearings and judge time; 2. Attorney General - $11,900 - for attorney representation and research; and 3. Guardian ad Litem (GAL) - $9,000 - for attorney representation. Also, assuming about 15 cases of investigating cases of mental abuse, the Department of Human Services may have additional costs of about $1,500 annually for a total General Fund impact of $54,400.
OngoingOne-TimeFinancing Source
$16,700$31,800Dedicated Credits Revenue
The Prosecution Council has requested an increase in the amount of dedicated credits they have authority to collect. These credits are from conference fees, for the training of prosecutors in the State of Utah. Their FY15 appropriated amount was $60,300; they request an increase to $92,100 (which exceeds the 125% rule). This request is for both FY15 supplemental and FY16 ongoing.
OngoingOne-TimeFinancing Source
$750,000$0General Fund
$497,700$0Dedicated Credits Revenue
The Attorney General's Office requests additional funding to increase the salaries of current attorneys and staff. The Office's request is for $1,072,700 from the General Fund and $711,800 from dedicated credits, for a total of $1,784,500 ongoing. No funding was allotted for this item in the Governor's budget. Attorney General dedicated credits are usually obtained through billing other state agencies for services; thus an increase in funding may be requested by billed agencies.
OngoingOne-TimeFinancing Source
$42,300$0General Fund
Enactment of this legislation likely will not materially impact state revenue.
Enactment of this bill creates the Navajo Trust Fund and transfers assets from the Utah Navajo Royalties Holding Fund. The bill could cost $800,000 ongoing beginning FY 2016 and $800,000 one-time in FY 2017 from the Navajo Trust Fund for chapter projects. The bill could cost $39,000 ongoing beginning FY 2016 and $25,000 one-time in FY 2017 from the Navajo Trust Fund for travel for the board of trustees and the Dineh Advisory Committee. Enactment of this bill could cost $42,300 ongoing beginning FY 2016 from the General Fund for Attorney General support for the board of trustees.
OngoingOne-TimeFinancing Source
$12,000$0General Fund
$5,000$25,000Federal Funds
Enactment of this legislation could increase revenue to the General Fund by $20,000 and to various Courts restricted accounts by $16,000 one-time in FY 2016 from petition filing fees; revenue could increase to the General Fund by $4,000 and to various Courts restricted accounts by $3,200 beginning in FY 2017. This legislation could increase dedicated credits revenue to the Department of Public Safety by $12,000 one-time in FY 2016 and by $2,400 beginning in FY 2017 from application fees.
Enactment of this legislation could cost the Department of Public Safety $5,000 from dedicated credits one-time in FY 2016 for computer programming; it could cost $7,500 one-time in FY 2016 and $1,500 beginning in FY 2017 from dedicated credits to issue eligibility certificates. This legislation could cost the Attorney General $25,000 one-time in FY 2016 and $5,000 beginning in FY 2016 from the Criminal Forfeiture Restricted Account for creation and maintenance of the White Collar Crime Offender Registry. This legislation could further cost the Attorney General $12,000 from the General Fund beginning in FY 2016 for staff support. This legislation could cost the Courts $35,000 one-time in FY 2016 and $7,000 beginning in FY 2017 from the General Fund.
The following are performance measures tracked within this organization.
- Adoption of case information tracking system
- Number of individuals attending Utah Prosecution Counsel trainings
- Number of cases at children's justice centers
- Number of individuals served at children's justice centers
- Number of interviews conducted at children's justice centers
- Number of services conducted at children's justice centers
- Average number of Child and Family Support cases handled per attorney
- Number of appeals pending under the Criminal Appeals Division
- Number of briefs filed under the Criminal Appeals Division
- Number of cases handled by the Commercial Enforcement Division
- Number of claims and judgments ordered by the State and its citizens
- Amount of child support non-payment recovered through criminal prosecution
- Number of cases handled by the Children's Justice Division
- Number of Utah citizens served by the Children's Justice Division
The Office of the Attorney General has six line items. They are:
- Attorney General
- Contract Attorneys
- Children's Justice Centers
- Prosecution Council
- Domestic Violence, and
- State Settlement Agreements
Slightly more than half of the Attorney General's budget comes from the General Fund. The other significant funding source is Dedicated Credits from billings to state agencies who receive the A.G.'s legal services.
The $223,800 discrepancy between FY 2012 revenues and expenditures results from a settlement payment the Attorney General made during the 2012 General Session. The Attorney General will appear before the Board of Examiners in late November 2012 to receive direction for reconciling this amount. Please refer to the Contract Attorneys line item and in the 'performance' section for further details.
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COBI contains unaudited data as presented to the Legislature by state agencies at the time of publication. For audited financial data see the State of Utah's Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports.