SF 3446

as introduced - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to state government; authorizing hiring 
  1.3             private counsel for state agencies; amending Minnesota 
  1.4             Statutes 1998, section 8.06; proposing coding for new 
  1.5             law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 8.  
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 8.06, is 
  1.8   amended to read: 
  1.9      8.06 [ATTORNEY FOR STATE OFFICERS, BOARDS, OR COMMISSIONS; 
  1.10  EMPLOY COUNSEL.] 
  1.11     The attorney general shall act as the attorney for all 
  1.12  state officers and all boards or commissions created by law in 
  1.13  all matters pertaining to their official duties.  When requested 
  1.14  by the attorney general, it shall be the duty of any county 
  1.15  attorney of the state to appear within the county and act as 
  1.16  attorney for any such board, commission, or officer in any court 
  1.17  of such county.  The attorney general may, upon request in 
  1.18  writing, employ, and fix the compensation of, a special attorney 
  1.19  for any such board, commission, or officer when, in the attorney 
  1.20  general's judgment, the public welfare will be promoted 
  1.21  thereby.  Such special attorney's fees or salary shall be paid 
  1.22  from the appropriation made for such board, commission, or 
  1.23  officer.  Except as herein provided, no board, commission, or 
  1.24  officer shall hereafter employ any attorney at the expense of 
  1.25  the state.  
  2.1      Whenever the attorney general, the governor, and the chief 
  2.2   justice of the supreme court shall certify, in writing, filed in 
  2.3   the office of the secretary of state, determines that it is 
  2.4   necessary, in the proper conduct of the legal business of the 
  2.5   state, either civil or criminal, that the state employ 
  2.6   additional counsel, the attorney general shall thereupon upon 
  2.7   compliance with section 8.065 be authorized to employ such 
  2.8   counsel and, with the governor and the chief justice, fix the 
  2.9   additional counsel's compensation.  Except as herein stated, no 
  2.10  additional counsel shall be employed and the legal business of 
  2.11  the state shall be performed exclusively by the attorney general 
  2.12  and the attorney general's assistants. 
  2.13     Sec. 2.  [8.065] [PRIVATE ATTORNEY RETENTION SUNSHINE ACT.] 
  2.14     Subdivision 1.  [CITATION.] This section may be known as 
  2.15  the Private Attorney Retention Sunshine Act. 
  2.16     Subd. 2.  [PROCUREMENT.] If the attorney general wishes to 
  2.17  retain an attorney or law firm to perform legal services on 
  2.18  behalf of this state, an open and competitive bidding process 
  2.19  must be undertaken. 
  2.20     Subd. 3.  [COVERED CONTRACTS.] For the purposes of 
  2.21  subdivisions 4 and 5, a contract in excess of $1,000,000 is one 
  2.22  in which the fee paid to an attorney or group of attorneys, 
  2.23  either in the form of a flat, hourly, or contingent fee, and 
  2.24  their expenses, exceeds or can be reasonably expected to exceed 
  2.25  $1,000,000. 
  2.26     Subd. 4.  [OVERSIGHT.] The attorney general must not enter 
  2.27  into a contract for legal services exceeding $1,000,000 without 
  2.28  the opportunity for at least one hearing in the legislature on 
  2.29  the terms of the legal contract as provided by subdivision 5.  
  2.30     Subd. 5.  [IMPLEMENTATION.] (a) If the attorney general 
  2.31  proposes to enter a contract for legal services in excess of 
  2.32  $1,000,000, the attorney general must file a copy of the 
  2.33  proposed contract with the chief clerk of the house of 
  2.34  representatives.  The speaker of the house of representatives 
  2.35  must refer the contract to the appropriate committee. 
  2.36     (b) Within 30 days after referral, the committee may hold a 
  3.1   public hearing on the proposed contract and must issue a report 
  3.2   to the attorney general.  The report must include any changes to 
  3.3   the proposed contract voted upon by the committee.  The attorney 
  3.4   general must review the report and adopt a final contract in 
  3.5   compliance with it and file with the chief clerk its final 
  3.6   contract. 
  3.7      (c) If the proposed contract does not contain the changes 
  3.8   recommended by the committee, the attorney general must send a 
  3.9   letter to the chief clerk accompanying the final contract 
  3.10  stating the reasons why the proposed changes were not adopted.  
  3.11  The chief clerk must forward the letter and final regulations to 
  3.12  the appropriate committee.  Not earlier than 45 days after the 
  3.13  filing of the letter and final contract with the committee, the 
  3.14  attorney general may enter into the final contract. 
  3.15     (d) If the committee recommends no changes to the proposed 
  3.16  contract within 60 days after the original or any revised 
  3.17  proposal is filed with the chief clerk, the attorney general may 
  3.18  enter the contract. 
  3.19     (e) If the legislature is not in session and the attorney 
  3.20  general wishes to execute a contract for legal services, the 
  3.21  governor, with the consent of the speaker of the house of 
  3.22  representatives and the president of the senate, may establish a 
  3.23  five-member interim committee consisting of five state 
  3.24  legislators, one each to be appointed by the governor, the 
  3.25  speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the 
  3.26  senate, the minority leader in the senate, and the minority 
  3.27  leader in the house of representatives, to execute the oversight 
  3.28  duties of this subdivision. 
  3.29     Subd. 6.  [CONTINGENT FEES.] (a) At the conclusion of any 
  3.30  legal proceeding for which the attorney general retained outside 
  3.31  counsel on a contingent fee basis, the state shall receive from 
  3.32  counsel a statement of the hours worked on the case, expenses 
  3.33  incurred, the aggregate fee amount, and a breakdown as to the 
  3.34  hourly rate, based on the fee recovered divided by the number of 
  3.35  hours worked, less expenses. 
  3.36     (b) The state must not incur expenses in excess of $1,000 
  4.1   per hour for legal services.  If a disclosure submitted under 
  4.2   paragraph (a) indicates an hourly rate in excess of $1,000 per 
  4.3   hour, the fee amount must be reduced to an amount equivalent to 
  4.4   $1,000 per hour. 
  4.5      Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION.] 
  4.6      Sections 1 and 2 are effective July 1, 2000, and apply to 
  4.7   contracts for legal services entered into on and after that date.