Arizona Attorney General
From Ballotpedia
The Arizona Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the state of Arizona, in the United States. It is an independent, constitutionally mandated office, elected by the people of the state to a four-year term.
The Attorney General’s Office is the largest law office in Arizona, with approximately 400 attorneys and 1,000 employees. The Attorney General's Office is divided into the following departments:
- Executive Office
- Solicitor General
- Administrative Operations
- Child and Family Protection
- Civil
- Civil Rights
- Criminal
- Public Advocacy
The Solicitor General department has the largest impact over initiative and referendum process. This department oversees preparation of legal opinions; administers and enforces State election laws; and provides independent advice to State agencies and boards in administrative proceedings in which Assistant Attorneys General appear as advocates. It will also review constitutional challenges to state law and authorizes all appeals and special actions.
The current Arizona Attorney General is Terry Goddard.
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Ballot Text and Legality
The Attorney General approves or rejects the language of the ballot that is submitted by the Secretary of State based on whether it is legal and whether it can be enacted according the Arizona Constitution. If the Attorney General determines that a proposed issue is legally sufficient but that the ballot statements clearly do not comply with legal requirements, the Attorney General prepares statements that comply with applicable requirements and forwards them to the Secretary of State.
The Attorney General will also enfoce the process of the ballot drive. For example, if the ballot drive does not meet residency requirements, the Attorney General will represent the state when bringing charges against the proponents of the measure.
Attorney's Opinions
Attorney General Opinions are issued when requested by the legislature, any public officer of the State, or a county attorney, on a question of law relating to their office. The Attorney General does not issue opinions for private citizens, nor will they offer legal advice to private citizens.
The Attorney General will also submit an opinion about the ballot measure. This opinion must be submitted no later than sixty days preceding the regular primary election the Legislative Council, after providing reasonable opportunity for comments by all legislators, shall prepare and file with the secretary of state an impartial analysis of the provisions of each ballot proposal of a measure or proposed amendment.
- The Legislative Council is a "statutory committee of the Legislature chaired in alternate years by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives and includes six additional members from each chamber. The Council staff provide a variety of nonpartisan bill drafting, research, computer and other administrative services to all of the members of both houses of the Legislature."
The analysis shall include a description of the measure and shall be written in easy to understand language. The analysis may contain background information, including the effect of the measure on existing law, or any legislative enactment suspended by referendum, if the measure or referendum is approved or rejected.
The analysis and arguments will be included in the voter guides.
See also
References
Portions of this article were taken from Wikipedia 8/8/07
Arizona Legislative Council
Arizona Attorney General
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