Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

S.B. 171 First Substitute (2018GS)

Sponsor

Sen. Adams, J. S.

Final action

Senate/ to Lieutenant Governor 4/18/2018

Outcome

Senate/ to Lieutenant Governor

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• provides that the Legislature may intervene as a matter of right in litigation under certain circumstances;
• requires the attorney general to provide notice to the legislative general counsel; and
• makes technical changes.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

INTERVENTION AS A MATTER OF RIGHT AMENDMENTS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: J. Stuart Adams
House Sponsor: 
 Merrill F. Nelson
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill provides the circumstances as to when the Legislature may intervene in
litigation.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ provides that the Legislature may intervene as a matter of right in litigation under
certain circumstances;
▸ requires the attorney general to provide notice to the legislative general counsel; and
▸ makes technical changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
36-12-7
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2009, Chapter 107
67-5-1
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2017, Chapters 295 and 387
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
36-12-7
 is amended to read:
36-12-7.
Legislative Management Committee -- Duties -- Litigation.
(1) The Senate or House Management Committee shall:
(a) receive legislative resolutions directing studies on legislative matters and may
assign these studies to the appropriate interim committee of its house;
(b) assign to interim committees of the same house, matters of legislative study not
specifically contained in a legislative resolution but considered significant to the welfare of the
state;
(c) receive requests from interim committees of its house for matters to be included on
the study agenda of the requesting committee. Appropriate bases for denying a study include
inadequate funding to properly complete the study or duplication of the work;
(d) establish a budget account for interim committee day as designated by Legislative
Management Committee and for all other legislative committees of its house and allocate to
that account sufficient funds to adequately provide for the work of the committee; and
(e) designate the time and place for periodic meetings of the interim committees.
(2) To maximize the use of legislators' available time, the Senate and House
Management Committees should attempt to schedule the committee meetings of their
respective houses during the same one or two-day period each month. This does not preclude
an interim committee from meeting at any time it determines necessary to complete its
business.
(3) The Legislative Management Committee shall:
(a) employ, after recommendation of the appropriate subcommittee of the Legislative
Management Committee, without regard to political affiliation, and subject to approval of a
majority vote of both houses, persons qualified for the positions of director of the Office of
Legislative Research and General Counsel, legislative fiscal analyst, legislative general
counsel, and legislative auditor general. Appointments to these positions shall be for terms of
six years subject to renewal under the same procedure as the original appointment. A person
may be removed from any of these offices [
prior to
] 
before
 the expiration of [
his
] 
the person's
term only by a majority vote of both houses of the Legislature or by a [
2/3
] 
two-thirds
 vote of
the management committee for such causes as inefficiency, incompetency, failure to maintain
skills or adequate performance levels, insubordination, misfeasance, malfeasance, or
nonfeasance in office. [
In the event
] 
If
 a vacancy occurs in any of these offices after
adjournment of the Legislature, the committee shall appoint an individual to fill the vacancy
until such time as the person is approved or rejected by majority vote of the next session of the
Legislature;
(b) develop policies for personnel management, compensation, and training of all
professional legislative staff;
(c) develop a policy within the limits of legislative appropriation for the authorization
and payment to legislators of compensation and travel expenses, including out-of-state travel;
(d) approve special study budget requests of the legislative directors; and
(e) assist the speaker-elect of the House of Representatives and the president-elect of
the Senate, upon selection by their majority party caucus, to organize their respective houses of
the Legislature and assume the direction of the operation of the Legislature in the forthcoming
annual general session.
(4) 
(a)
 The Legislature delegates to the Legislative Management Committee the
authority, by means of a majority vote of the committee, to direct the legislative general
counsel in matters involving the Legislature's participation in litigation.
(b) The Legislature has an unconditional right to intervene in a court action when a
party to that court action challenges:
(i) the constitutionality of a state statute;
(ii) the validity of legislation; or
(iii) any action of the Legislature.
(c) The attorney general shall notify the legislative general counsel of a claim described
in Subsection (4)(b) in accordance with Subsection 
67-5-1
(24).
Section 2. Section 
67-5-1
 is amended to read:
67-5-1.
General duties.
The attorney general shall:
(1) perform all duties in a manner consistent with the attorney-client relationship under
Section 
67-5-17
;
(2) except as provided in Sections 
10-3-928
 and 
17-18a-403
, attend the Supreme Court
and the Court of Appeals of this state, and all courts of the United States, and prosecute or
defend all causes to which the state or any officer, board, or commission of the state in an
official capacity is a party, and take charge, as attorney, of all civil legal matters in which the
state is interested;
(3) after judgment on any cause referred to in Subsection (2), direct the issuance of
process as necessary to execute the judgment;
(4) account for, and pay over to the proper officer, all money that comes into the
attorney general's possession that belongs to the state;
(5) keep a file of all cases in which the attorney general is required to appear, including
any documents and papers showing the court in which the cases have been instituted and tried,
and whether they are civil or criminal, and:
(a) if civil, the nature of the demand, the stage of proceedings, and, when prosecuted to
judgment, a memorandum of the judgment and of any process issued if satisfied, and if not
satisfied, documentation of the return of the sheriff;
(b) if criminal, the nature of the crime, the mode of prosecution, the stage of
proceedings, and, when prosecuted to sentence, a memorandum of the sentence and of the
execution, if the sentence has been executed, and, if not executed, the reason for the delay or
prevention; and
(c) deliver this information to the attorney general's successor in office;
(6) exercise supervisory powers over the district and county attorneys of the state in all
matters pertaining to the duties of their offices, and from time to time require of them reports of
the condition of public business entrusted to their charge;
(7) give the attorney general's opinion in writing and without fee to the Legislature or
either house and to any state officer, board, or commission, and to any county attorney or
district attorney, when required, upon any question of law relating to their respective offices;
(8) when required by the public service or directed by the governor, assist any county,
district, or city attorney in the discharge of county, district, or city attorney's duties;
(9) purchase in the name of the state, under the direction of the state Board of
Examiners, any property offered for sale under execution issued upon judgments in favor of or
for the use of the state, and enter satisfaction in whole or in part of the judgments as the
consideration of the purchases;
(10) when the property of a judgment debtor in any judgment mentioned in Subsection
(9) has been sold under a prior judgment, or is subject to any judgment, lien, or encumbrance
taking precedence of the judgment in favor of the state, redeem the property, under the
direction of the state Board of Examiners, from the prior judgment, lien, or encumbrance, and
pay all money necessary for the redemption, upon the order of the state Board of Examiners,
out of any money appropriated for these purposes;
(11) when in the attorney general's opinion it is necessary for the collection or
enforcement of any judgment, institute and prosecute on behalf of the state any action or
proceeding necessary to set aside and annul all conveyances fraudulently made by the judgment
debtors, and pay the cost necessary to the prosecution, when allowed by the state Board of
Examiners, out of any money not otherwise appropriated;
(12) discharge the duties of a member of all official boards of which the attorney
general is or may be made a member by the Utah Constitution or by the laws of the state, and
other duties prescribed by law;
(13) institute and prosecute proper proceedings in any court of the state or of the
United States to restrain and enjoin corporations organized under the laws of this or any other
state or territory from acting illegally or in excess of their corporate powers or contrary to
public policy, and in proper cases forfeit their corporate franchises, dissolve the corporations,
and wind up their affairs;
(14) institute investigations for the recovery of all real or personal property that may
have escheated or should escheat to the state, and for that purpose, subpoena any persons
before any of the district courts to answer inquiries and render accounts concerning any
property, examine all books and papers of any corporations, and when any real or personal
property is discovered that should escheat to the state, institute suit in the district court of the
county where the property is situated for its recovery, and escheat that property to the state;
(15) administer the Children's Justice Center as a program to be implemented in
various counties pursuant to Sections 
67-5b-101
 through 
67-5b-107
;
(16) assist the Constitutional Defense Council as provided in Title 63C, Chapter 4a,
Constitutional and Federalism Defense Act;
(17) pursue any appropriate legal action to implement the state's public lands policy
established in Section 
63C-4a-103
; 
(18) investigate and prosecute violations of all applicable state laws relating to fraud in
connection with the state Medicaid program and any other medical assistance program
administered by the state, including violations of Title 26, Chapter 20, Utah False Claims Act;
(19) investigate and prosecute complaints of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of patients
at:
(a) health care facilities that receive payments under the state Medicaid program; and
(b) board and care facilities, as defined in the federal Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C.
Sec. 1396b(q)(4)(B), regardless of the source of payment to the board and care facility;
(20) (a) report at least twice per year to the Legislative Management Committee on any
pending or anticipated lawsuits, other than eminent domain lawsuits, that might:
(i) cost the state more than $500,000; or
(ii) require the state to take legally binding action that would cost more than $500,000
to implement; and
(b) if the meeting is closed, include an estimate of the state's potential financial or other
legal exposure in that report;
(21) (a) submit a written report to the committees described in Subsection (21)(b) that
summarizes the status and progress of any lawsuits that challenge the constitutionality of state
law that were pending at the time the attorney general submitted the attorney general's last
report under this Subsection (21), including any:
(i) settlements reached;
(ii) consent decrees entered; or
(iii) judgments issued; and
(b) at least 30 days before the Legislature's May and November interim meetings,
submit the report described in Subsection (21)(a) to:
(i) the Legislative Management Committee;
(ii) the Judiciary Interim Committee; and
(iii) the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee;
(22) if the attorney general operates the Office of the Attorney General or any portion
of the Office of the Attorney General as an internal service fund agency in accordance with
Section 
67-5-4
, submit to the rate committee established in Section 
67-5-34
:
(a) a proposed rate and fee schedule in accordance with Subsection 
67-5-34
(4); and
(b) any other information or analysis requested by the rate committee; [
and
]
(23) before the end of each calendar year, create an annual performance report for the
Office of the Attorney General and post the report on the attorney general's website[
.
]
; and
(24) notify the legislative general counsel in writing within three business days after
the day on which the attorney general becomes aware of a claim described in Subsection
36-12-7
(4)(b). 
Legislative Review Note
Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel