Opinion ID: 1429543
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Attorney General and the Arizona Constitution

Text: The Attorney General first argues that, as the state's chief legal officer, he has a duty not only to represent his client agencies, but also the duty to uphold the Arizona Constitution. He states that he has a recognized affirmative duty to challenge statutes. Therefore, he argues, this duty to uphold the constitution gives him an independent ground for standing. To the extent the Attorney General is arguing that the Arizona Constitution itself grants him independent standing here, we disagree. The Arizona Constitution creates the office of Attorney General but does not undertake to describe the duties of the office. Instead, it merely provides: The powers and duties of ... [the] Attorney General ... shall be as prescribed by law. Ariz. Const. art. V, § 9. Although the court of appeals held that the Attorney General has standing to challenge the constitutionality of a statute, that holding was based on a statutory, rather than a constitutional, foundation. See Fund Manager, 161 Ariz. at 354, 778 P.2d at 1250. In Fund Manager, the Attorney General brought an action under A.R.S. § 35-212, challenging the illegal expenditure of funds. Id. at 352, 778 P.2d at 1248. The Attorney General contended that the statute which exempted certain contracts for goods and services from the procurement code was unconstitutional. Id. at 356, 778 P.2d at 1252. The Fund Manager challenged the Attorney General's standing contending that, because no statute specifically authorized the Attorney General to challenge the constitutionality of a state statute, he could not do so. Id. at 353, 778 P.2d at 1249. The court held, however, that the Attorney General had standing to challenge the constitutionality of a statute because the challenge was in support of his statutory authority to prevent the improper expenditure of public funds. Id. at 354, 778 P.2d at 1250. We therefore conclude that the Arizona Constitution does not itself give the Attorney General standing to maintain this action. Standing must be linked to some statutory basis.