Okla. Stat. tit. 74 § 18b

Current through Laws 2024, c. 453.

Section 18b - Duties of Attorney General - Counsel of Corporation Commission as representative on appeal from Commission

A. The duties of the Attorney General as the chief law officer of the state shall be:

1. To appear for the state and prosecute and defend all actions and proceedings, civil or criminal, in the Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals in which the state is interested as a party;

2. To appear for the state and prosecute and defend all actions and proceedings in any of the federal courts in which the state is interested as a party;

3. To initiate or appear in any action in which the interests of the state or the people of the state are at issue, or to appear at the request of the Governor, the Legislature, or either branch thereof, and prosecute and defend in any court or before any commission, board or officers any cause or proceeding, civil or criminal, in which the state may be a party or interested; and when so appearing in any such cause or proceeding, the Attorney General may, if the Attorney General deems it advisable and to the best interest of the state, take and assume control of the prosecution or defense of the state's interest therein;

4. To consult with and advise district attorneys, when requested by them, in all matters pertaining to the duties of their offices, when the district attorneys shall furnish the Attorney General with a written opinion supported by citation of authorities upon the matter submitted;

5. To give an opinion in writing upon all questions of law submitted to the Attorney General by the Legislature or either branch thereof, or by any state officer, board, commission or department, provided, that the Attorney General shall not furnish opinions to any but district attorneys, the Legislature or either branch thereof, or any other state official, board, commission or department, and to them only upon matters in which they are officially interested;

6. At the request of the Governor, State Auditor and Inspector, State Treasurer, or either branch of the Legislature, to prosecute any official bond or any contract in which the state is interested, upon a breach thereof, and to prosecute or defend for the state all actions, civil or criminal, relating to any matter connected with either of their Departments;

7. Whenever requested by any state officer, board or commission, to prepare proper drafts for contracts, forms and other writing which may be wanted for the use of the state;

8. To prepare drafts of bills and resolutions for individual members of the Legislature upon their written request stating the gist of the bill or resolution desired;

9. To enforce the proper application of monies appropriated by the Legislature and to prosecute breaches of trust in the administration of such funds;

10. To institute actions to recover state monies illegally expended, to recover state property and to prevent the illegal use of any state property, upon the request of the Governor or the Legislature;

11. To pay into the State Treasury, immediately upon its receipt, all monies received by the Attorney General belonging to the state;

12. To settle, compromise and dispose of an action in which the Attorney General represents the interests of the state, so long as the consideration negotiated for such settlement, compromise or disposition is payable to the state or one of its agencies which is a named party of the action and any monies, any property or other item of value is paid first to the State Treasury;

13. To keep and file copies of all opinions, contracts, forms and letters of the office, and to keep an index of all opinions, contracts and forms according to subject and section of the law construed or applied;

14. To keep a register or docket of all actions, demands and investigations prosecuted, defended or conducted by the Attorney General in behalf of the state. The register or docket shall give the style of the case or investigation, where pending, court number, office number, the gist of the matter, result and the names of the assistants who handled the matter;

15. To keep a complete office file of all cases and investigations handled by the Attorney General on behalf of the state;

16. To report to the Legislature or either branch thereof whenever requested upon any business relating to the duties of the Attorney General's office;

17. To institute civil actions against members of any state board or commission for failure of such members to perform their duties as prescribed by the statutes and the Constitution and to prosecute members of any state board or commission for violation of the criminal laws of this state where such violations have occurred in connection with the performance of such members' official duties;

18. To respond to any request for an opinion of the Attorney General's office, submitted by a member of the Legislature, regardless of subject matter, by written opinion determinative of the law regarding such subject matter;

19. To convene multicounty grand juries in such manner and for such purposes as provided by law; provided, such grand juries are composed of citizens from each of the counties on a pro rata basis by county;

20. To investigate any report by the State Auditor and Inspector filed with the Attorney General pursuant to Section 223 of this title and prosecute all actions, civil or criminal, relating to such reports or any irregularities or derelictions in the management of public funds or property which are violations of the laws of this state;

21. To represent and protect the collective interests of all utility consumers of this state in rate-related proceedings before the Corporation Commission or in any other state or federal judicial or administrative proceeding;

22. To represent and protect the collective interests of insurance consumers of this state in rate-related proceedings before the Insurance Commissioner or in any other state or federal judicial or administrative proceeding;

23. To investigate and prosecute any criminal action relating to insurance fraud, if in the opinion of the Attorney General a criminal prosecution is warranted, or to refer such matters to the appropriate district attorney;

24. To monitor and evaluate any action by the federal government including, but not limited to, executive orders by the President of the United States, rules or regulations promulgated by an agency of the federal government or acts of Congress to determine if such actions are in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States;

25. To cross-deputize police officers of the police department of any municipality or any officer deputized by the county sheriff or a designee subject to an interlocal governmental agreement with the Attorney General's Office in an effort to combine city, county, and state law enforcement efforts and to encourage cooperation between city, county, and state law enforcement officials. Liability for the conduct of any municipal police officer cross-deputized under the terms and conditions of an interlocal governmental agreement or any officer deputized by the county sheriff under the terms and conditions of an interlocal governmental agreement shall remain the responsibility of the respective employer for that officer; and

26. To maintain data related to human trafficking and to assist law enforcement, social service agencies, and victim services programs in identifying and supporting victims of human trafficking.

B. Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring the Attorney General to appear and defend or prosecute in any court any cause or proceeding for or on behalf of the Oklahoma Tax Commission, the Board of Managers of the State Insurance Fund, or the Commissioners of the Land Office.

C. In all appeals from the Corporation Commission to the Supreme Court of Oklahoma in which the state is a party, the Attorney General shall have the right to designate counsel of the Corporation Commission as the Attorney General's legally appointed representative in such appeals, and it shall be the duty of the Corporation Commission counsel to act when so designated and to consult and advise with the Attorney General regarding such appeals prior to taking action therein.

Okla. Stat. tit. 74, § 18b

Amended without change by Laws 2024, c. 452,s. 171, eff. 6/14/2024.

Amended by Laws 2024, c. 452,s. 170, eff. 6/14/2024.

Amended by Laws 1976 , c. 130, § 1, emerg. eff. 5/24/1976; Amended by Laws 1979 , c. 30, § 53, emerg. eff. 4/6/1979; Amended by Laws 1979 , c. 241, § 17, operative 7/1/1979; Amended by Laws 1982 , c. 26, § 1, operative 10/1/1982; Amended by Laws 1987 , c. 39, § 1, eff. 11/1/1987; Amended by Laws 1991 , c. 17, § 3, eff. 9/1/1991; Amended by Laws 1992 , c. 294, § 14, eff. 9/1/1992; Amended by Laws 1993 , c. 349, § 32, eff. 9/1/1993; Amended by Laws 1995 , c. 328, § 12, eff. 7/1/1995; Amended by Laws 1996 , c. 295, § 1, eff. 7/1/1996; Amended by Laws 1999 , c. 344, § 4, emerg. eff. 6/8/1999; Amended by Laws 2010 , c. 37, § 4, eff. 11/1/2010; Amended by Laws 2017 , c. 18, § 1, eff. 11/1/2017; Amended by Laws 2019 , c. 444, § 1, emerg. eff. 5/24/2019; Amended by Laws 2021 , c. 530, § 1, eff. 7/1/2021; Amended by Laws 2022 , c. 100, § 1, eff. 11/1/2022; Amended by Laws 2022 , c. 296, § 1, eff. 7/1/2022.

Added by Laws 1939, p. 44, § 3, emerg. eff. 5/21/1939.