Opinion ID: 2785000
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: constitutional, statutory, and common law

Text: BACKGROUND FOR THE QUESTIONS [¶4] To consider either of the questions propounded, it is first necessary to examine the relationship between the Legislative and Executive Branches of government as they relate to the constitutional office of the Maine Attorney General. See Me. Const. art. IX, § 11. [¶5] The Governor is vested with “[t]he supreme executive power of this State” by the Maine Constitution. Me. Const. art. V, pt. 1, § 1. In his role as the supreme executive, the Governor is required to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” Me. Const. art. V, pt. 1, § 12. That responsibility will require the Governor, through his office or the offices of Executive Branch agencies—here specifically, the Department of Health and Human Services—to advocate and litigate before federal and state administrative agencies, the courts of Maine, and other federal and state courts. As further explained below, representation in litigation will usually be provided through the “Attorney General or a deputy, assistant or staff attorney.” 5 M.R.S. § 191(3) (2014). [¶6] The office of Attorney General, an office created by the Maine Constitution, is ordinarily filled “biennially by joint ballot of the Senators and 3 Representatives in convention.” Me. Const. art. IX, § 11. Although the Governor has the authority to nominate and appoint various State officers, subject to confirmation, see Me. Const. art. V, pt. 1, § 8, the Governor does not appoint the Attorney General unless a “[v]acancy in said office occur[s] when the Legislature is not in session,” Me. Const. art. IX, § 11.2 [¶7] “The Attorney General is the executive head of the Department of the Attorney General.” 5 M.R.S. § 191(1) (2014). The Attorney General’s authorizing legislation is found in title 5 of the Maine Revised Statutes, entitled “ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES AND SERVICES.” The Attorney General acts independently and is not explicitly a part of either the Legislative Branch, which is governed by article IV of the Maine Constitution and title 3 of the Maine Revised Statutes, or the Executive Branch, which is governed by article V of the Maine Constitution and title 2 of the Maine Revised Statutes. In this respect, the Attorney General is distinct from the other constitutional officers—the Secretary of State and the Treasurer of State. Although the Secretary of State and the Treasurer of State are also elected by the Legislature, see Me. Const. art. V, pt. 2, § 1; Me. 2 If the vacancy does occur when the Legislature is not in session, the office “may be filled by appointment by the Governor, subject to confirmation as required by this Constitution for Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court.” Me. Const. art. IX, § 11. That confirmation procedure requires that “an appropriate legislative committee comprised of members of both houses in reasonable proportion to their membership as provided by law shall recommend confirmation or denial by majority vote of committee members present and voting.” Me. Const. art. V, pt. 1, § 8. “The committee recommendation shall be reviewed by the Senate and upon review shall become final action of confirmation or denial unless the Senate by vote of 2/3 of those members present and voting overrides the committee recommendation.” Id. 4 Const. art. V, pt. 3, § 1, and their roles, like the Attorney General’s, are governed by title 5 of the Maine Revised Statutes, see 5 M.R.S. §§ 81 to 90-T, 121-155 (2014), their offices are created and defined by article V of the Maine Constitution, the same article that establishes the “Executive Power” in the Governor. In contrast, the office of the Attorney General is created in article IX of the Maine Constitution, which is captioned, “General Provisions.” See Me. Const. art. IX, § 11. [¶8] The Attorney General therefore occupies an office that does not fall within any particular branch of government, although an Attorney General will always hold that office by virtue of some action by legislators and may hold that office because of a gubernatorial appointment made due to a vacancy arising when the Legislature is not in session. See id. [¶9] The Maine Constitution does not define or describe the Attorney General’s duties and authority. Instead, those duties and that authority are defined by statutes and common law. See 5 M.R.S. §§ 191-205 (2014); Superintendent of Ins. v. Attorney General, 558 A.2d 1197, 1199-1200 (Me. 1989). Here, the Governor’s questions seek the interpretation of statutory—not constitutional— language. 5 [¶10] The statute at issue establishes a duty in the Attorney General to provide legal representation for the State, including for heads of state departments or agencies that operate within the Executive Branch, in most circumstances: Representation by Attorney General, deputies, assistants and staff attorneys. The Attorney General or a deputy, assistant or staff attorney shall appear for the State, the head of any state department, the head of any state institution and agencies of the State in all civil actions and proceedings in which the State is a party or interested, or in which the official acts and doings of the officers are called into question, in all the courts of the State and in those actions and proceedings before any other tribunal when requested by the Governor or by the Legislature or either House of the Legislature. All such actions and proceedings must be prosecuted or defended by the Attorney General or under the Attorney General’s direction. .... B. All legal services required by those officers, boards and commissions in matters relating to their official duties must be rendered by the Attorney General or under the Attorney General’s direction. The officers or agencies of the State may not act at the expense of the State as counsel, nor employ private counsel except upon prior written approval of the Attorney General. In all instances where the Legislature has authorized an office or an agency of the State to employ private counsel, the Attorney General’s written approval is required as a condition precedent to the employment. 5 M.R.S. § 191(3) (emphases added). The Governor’s questions seek our interpretation of the highlighted passages in section 191(3) to address a situation in which the Attorney General declined to provide representation in litigation for an 6 Executive Branch agency, approved the employment of private counsel for the Executive Branch, and then intervened in the litigation as an opponent. [¶11] Before we can determine whether the Governor’s questions present “solemn occasions” upon which we may opine as individual Justices in an advisory capacity, Me. Const. art. VI, § 3; see Opinion of the Justices, 2012 ME 49, ¶ 4, 40 A.3d 930, we review briefly the facts that generated the questions.