An Act to Require the Attorney General to Seek Legislative
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 1008
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: TUELL
Amends: 5 MRSA §192, 5 MRSA §192-A

Legislative Document
No. 1008
H.P. 655
House of Representatives, March 11, 2025
An Act to Require the Attorney General to Seek Legislative 
Approval Before Filing Any Civil Suit on Behalf of the State and to 
Authorize Citizen-initiated Petitions to Move for Dismissal
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative TUELL of East Machias.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §192, as amended by PL 1973, c. 567, §20, is further amended to 
read:
§192.  Prosecution of all claims for State
All civil actions to recover money for the State shall must be brought by the Attorney 
General in accordance with section 192-A or by the district attorney in the name of the 
State. The Attorney General shall appear before the departments and tribunals of the United 
States and the committees of Congress to prosecute all claims of the State against the 
United States.
Sec. 2.  5 MRSA §192-A is enacted to read:
§192-A.  Legislative approval of Attorney General actions; citizen-initiated review
1.  Legislative review. In any civil suit brought on behalf of the State that the Attorney 
General identifies as needing legislative approval, the Attorney General shall prepare and 
present a proposal to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction 
over judiciary matters requesting approval to file the case in state or federal court. 
2.  Committee authority to report out legislation. In response to a request under 
subsection 1, the committee may report out legislation to the Legislature in the current 
legislative session in which the committee sits authorizing the Attorney General to initiate 
a civil suit in state or federal court. 
3.  Legislative approval. The Attorney General may not file a civil suit on behalf of 
the State in state or federal court unless the Legislature approves of the Attorney General's 
request by a vote of a majority of its members and submits the approval legislation for 
signature and approval of the Governor.
4.  Citizen-initiated review. A registered voter of the State may, at any time, submit a 
written application to the Department of the Secretary of State on a form designed by the 
Secretary of State to initiate a petition to be circulated directing the Attorney General to 
move for a dismissal of a civil suit filed on behalf of the State. On receipt, the Secretary of 
State or the Secretary of State's designee shall review the application and determine the 
form of the petition to be submitted to the voters. Upon the filing of the application, the 
Attorney General shall file a motion to stay the proceedings until the completion of the 
petition process outlined in this subsection. Circulation of petitions under this subsection 
must comply with Title 21-A, chapter 11. If a petition contains 500 valid signatures within 
one year of its issuance, the Attorney General shall move for a dismissal of the civil suit.
5.  Interim requests. If the Attorney General requests legislative approval under 
subsection 1 when the Legislature is not in session, the joint standing committee of the 
Legislature having jurisdiction over judiciary matters, the House of Representatives and 
the Senate are authorized to meet for the purpose of completing the review process in 
subsections 2 and 3.
SUMMARY
This bill creates a process for the Attorney General to request legislative approval 
before filing a case on behalf of the State in state or federal court. The bill authorizes the 
joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over judiciary matters to 
report out legislation authorizing the Attorney General's request for approval in the House 
of Representatives and the Senate. The bill also authorizes any registered voter in the State 
to request a citizen-initiated review of any case filed by the Attorney General and requires 
that proceedings in that case be halted until the petition process has been completed. 
Finally, the bill authorizes the Legislature to meet during the interim for the purposes of 
completing legislative review on a request by the Attorney General.