HB 4049 Arizona House · 57th Legislature - Second Regular Session

attorney general; legal counsel; exemption

HB 4049 expands exemptions allowing specific Arizona state agencies to hire their own legal counsel instead of relying on the Attorney General's office. It adds 12 new agencies to the exemption list, including the director of water resources, Arizona board of regents, and the residential utility consumer office. The bill also clarifies that agencies can hire outside counsel when the Attorney General is disqualified due to a conflict of interest or lacks expertise, as outlined in new provisions (subsections E and F). This change directly affects those 12 agencies and any state entity facing a legal matter requiring independent legal representation.

Bill status vetoed 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Jun 2026

Vetoed

Jun 2026

Introduced Feb 10, 2026 Vetoed Jun 19, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Version → House Engrossed Version (03/02/2026) · 4 edits · Jun 9, 2026

MODERATE

The bill was reorganized and significantly expanded to clarify the Attorney General's authority, adding new exemptions for specific state agencies to hire their own legal counsel and creating a new section to protect the Attorney General's independence when representing the Department of Child Safety in cases of alleged misconduct.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from a general description of the Attorney General's duties to include specific statutory exemptions for 12 state agencies to hire independent legal counsel and a new mandate for the Attorney General to act as an independent watchdog for the Department of Child Safety.

ELIGIBILITY

Added a list of 12 specific state agencies (including the Auditor General and Office of the Governor) that are exempt from the general rule requiring them to use the Attorney General for legal services.

ENFORCEMENT

Created a new section (41-192.03) requiring the Attorney General to represent the state's interest rather than the Department of Child Safety as a client if credible allegations of misconduct, such as false evidence or retaliation, are made against the department.

TECHNICAL

Corrected grammatical errors and inconsistent phrasing (e.g., changing 'he the attorney general' to 'the attorney general') throughout the existing text.

REQUIREMENT

Added a requirement for the Attorney General to file quarterly reports with the governor and legislative leaders regarding monies received from settlements and legal fees.

Floor votes · House Mar 2, 2026

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Jun 19, 2026

Vetoed

Vetoed by Governor

executive

Jun 9, 2026

Upper · Passed

PASSED

upper

Mar 31, 2026

Upper · Passed

upper

Mar 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

upper

Mar 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

PASSED

lower

Feb 25, 2026

Lower · Passed

DPA

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Lower · Passed

DPA

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors