Report: Idaho could save big bucks by expanding Attorney General’s staff, hiring fewer private attorneys
Idaho state agencies are spending more than $10 million a year on outside legal counsel when they could be saving money by using the Idaho Attorney General’s office, according to a new performance evaluation released this afternoon by the Office of Performance Evaluations. The full report is online here. It highlights three areas where the state has opportunities to “in-source” legal work and save big bucks: The Department of Health & Welfare, which spends more than $3 million a year on outside lawyers; the Idaho Transportation Department, which spends more than $2.7 million a year; and the state Department of Administration, which spends nearly $2 million a year. Those three agencies account for 76 percent of the state’s spending on outside lawyers, the report found.
Other areas of state government were less promising for “in-sourcing,” the report concluded, including the State Appellate Public Defender, for whom the Attorney General is the opposing counsel; the state Board of Medicine, which employs outside lawyers as hearing officers; and the Judicial Branch, which largely uses them for expenses related to the Judicial Council, which handles screening and nomination of new judges and disciplining of existing judges.
Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, in his response to the report, said it “covers issues that will shape the state’s use of legal services in the years to come.” The heads of all three targeted agencies – H&W, ITD and Administration – said they’d work with the AG’s office and present in-sourcing plans to the Legislature. That could involve adding additional staff at Wasden’s office, to avoid hiring more-expensive outside lawyers. The Joint Legislative Oversight Committee is discussing the report now in the Lincoln Auditorium; you can watch live here.
Asked for the department's response, Keith Reynolds of the state Department of Administration told JLOC, “We learned things that we already knew, but should have known better.” He said the department will work closely with the Attorney General’s office.
Wasden told the panel, “It’s an issue that I have been talking about for a long time and trying to bring some sanity to this issue. It is a very complex issue, and I appreciate the work that your director and your office have gone through to take a look at this issue and do a comprehensive and enlightened review.”
Health & Welfare Director Dick Armstrong said, “We’re glad that the area was looked at because we will continue to pursue it.”
