NewsOK
BY MICHAEL MCNUTT
Published: October 8, 2010
Troubled that two state agencies are spending about $1 million a year the past two years on outside attorneys, a legislator suggested Thursday a special division be established in the attorney general's office to handle complicated class-action lawsuits or condemnation proceedings.
Rep. Mark McCullough grilled state Transportation Department officials during his interim legislative study about their decision to pay nearly $1.4 million to outside attorneys for land condemnation proceedings during the 2010 fiscal year.
Norman Hill, the department's general counsel, said the agency has nine state attorneys — four of whom work in the legal division, which handles issues such as disputes over land acquisition.
"You could hire a lot of staff attorneys for that money," McCullough, R-Sapulpa, told Hill.
McCullough said he asked House staff to find out the state agencies that spent the most on attorneys or had several staff attorneys and requested agency officials to explain their legal expenses. He still is trying to get an amount on how much state agencies spend on outside attorneys... FULL ARTICLE
Posted on
Fri, October 8, 2010
by Crystal Drwenski