00SENATE BILL NO. 286                                                                                                   
01 "An Act relating to the duties and powers of the attorney general."                                                     
02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03    * Section 1.  AS 44.23.020 is amended to read:                                                                     
04  Sec. 44.23.020.  Duties; [AND] powers; waiver of immunity.  (a)  The                                                
05 attorney general is the legal advisor of the  state, including the  governor and other                                
06 state officers.                                                                                                         
07  (b)  The attorney general shall                                                                                       
08   (1)  bring, prosecute, and defend all necessary and proper actions in the                                            
09 name of the state for the collection of revenue;                                                                        
10   (2)  represent the state in all civil actions in which the state is a party;                                         
11   (3)  prosecute all cases involving violation of state law, and file                                                  
12 informations and prosecute all offenses against the revenue laws and other state laws                                   
13 where there is no other provision for their prosecution;                                                                
14   (4)  administer state legal services, including the furnishing of written                                            

01 legal opinions to the governor, the legislature, and all state officers and departments                                 
02 as the governor directs; and give legal advice on a law, proposed law, or proposed                                      
03 legislative measure upon request by the legislature or a member of the legislature;                                     
04   (5)  draft legal instruments for the state;                                                                          
05   (6)  make available a report to the legislature, through the governor, at                                            
06 each regular legislative session                                                                                        
07   (A)  of the work and expenditures of the office; and                                                                
08   (B)  on needed legislation or amendments to existing law;                                                           
09   (7)  perform all other duties required by law [OR WHICH USUALLY                                                      
10 PERTAIN TO THE OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL IN A STATE]; and                                                              
11   (8)  prepare, publish, and revise as it becomes useful or necessary to do                                            
12 so an information pamphlet on landlord and tenant rights and the means of making                                        
13 complaints to appropriate public agencies concerning landlord and tenant rights; the                                    
14 contents of the pamphlet and any revision shall be approved by the Department of                                        
15 Law, division of consumer protection, before publication.                                                               
16  (c)  The attorney general may, subject to the power of the legislature to                                            
17 make appropriations, settle actions, cases, and offenses under (b) of this section                                      
18 in which the attorney general represents the state and in which the state is a                                          
19 party.                                                                                                                  
20  (d)   Before January 1, 1999, the attorney general may, in a case that involves                                      
21 the state's title to submerged lands, or in any case in which the state seeks to allocate                               
22 fault to the federal government or a federal employee under AS 09.17.080, waive the                                     
23 state's immunity from suit in federal court provided under the Eleventh Amendment                                       
24 to the Constitution of the United States.  The expiration on January 1, 1999, of the                                    
25 attorney general's authority to waive the state's Eleventh Amendment immunity does                                      
26 not affect existing waivers in ongoing cases.