HB2475 - 452R - House Bill Summary

House of Representatives

HB 2475

private attorney retention sunshine act

Sponsors: Representatives Pearce,

Pierce, Anderson, Johnson, et al

X	Committee on Retirement and Government Operations
	Caucus and COW
	Third Read
	As Passed the House

HB 2475 defines a contract for legal services in excess of one hundred thousand dollars and provides guidelines to a process in which a state agency or agent hires an attorney with reasonable belief the contract will cost more than one hundred thousand dollars.

Provisions

· Defines a contract for legal services in excess of one hundred thousand dollars to mean a contract in which the fee to be paid to an attorney is more than or can be reasonably expected to be more than one hundred thousand dollars.

· Requires an open and competitive bidding process if state agencies or agents want to retain a lawyer or law firm on behalf of the state.

· Specifies that state agencies and agents shall not enter into a contract for legal services in excess of hundred thousand dollars without an opportunity for at least one hearing in the legislature on the terms of the contract.

· Requires state agencies and agents entering into a contract for legal services in excess of one hundred thousand dollars to file a copy of the proposed contract with the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives. Upon approval of the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chief Clerk shall refer the contract to the appropriate committee.

· Asserts that within thirty days of the Chief Clerk forwarding the contract to the designated committee, the committee shall hold a public hearing on the proposed contract and issue a report including the proposed changes voted on by the committee to the proposed contract to the referring state agency or agent.

· Requires the agency or agent to review the report and adopt a final contract as deemed appropriate in view of the report and then file the final contract with the Chief Clerk in the House of Representatives.

· Clarifies that if the proposed contract does not contain the changes proposed by the committee, the referring state agency or agent shall send a letter to the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives explaining why the proposed changes were not adopted. The Chief Clerk shall then forward the letter and the final contract to the appropriate committee.

· Specifies that the state agency or agent shall not enter in to the final contract earlier than 45 days after filing the letter and the final contract with the Chief Clerk.

· Stipulates that if the committee does not notify the state agency or agent of the proposed changes to the proposed contract within 60 days of the initial filing of the proposed contract with the chief clerk, the state agency or agent may enter the contract.

· Clarifies that this section of law shall not be construed to expand the authority of any state agency or agent to enter into contracts if no such authority previously existed.

· Allows that if the legislature is not in session and the Attorney General wishes to execute a contract for legal services, the Governor, with the consent of both the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate, may establish a five member interim committee. This committee will consist of five legislators to be appointed by the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate and the Minority Leader in each house of the legislature.

· Specifies that the interim committee shall execute the oversight duties in the same manner in which the appropriate committee would have if in regular session. Identical deadlines and reporting responsibilities apply to the Attorney General and the interim committee as they apply to a standing committee of the legislature executing its duties.

· Mandates that at the conclusion of any legal proceeding in which a state agency or agent retained outside counsel on a contingent fee basis, that counsel shall submit to the state agency or agent a statement of hours worked, expenses incurred, the aggregate fee amount and a breakdown of the hourly rate, based on hours worked divided into the fee recovered, less expenses.

· Clarifies that the state may never incur expenses of more than two hundred fifty dollars per hour for legal services and if the amount is over two hundred fifty dollars at the conclusion of the services, the final amount shall be reduced to equal two hundred fifty dollars per hour.

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· 45th Legislature