HB 513: Attorney General Funding Amendments - Utah

Amended 2/18/2026 11:02:829 → Substitute #1 · 8 edits

MODERATE

This bill replaces the previous Attorney General funding model with a new system where state agencies must pay for legal services based on actual time spent, rather than a flat fee. It establishes a new 'Legal Services Retainer Fund' to hold pre-approved funds for these charges and creates a specific program to defend the state in high-stakes civil litigation. The bill also exempts the Attorney General's office from certain internal service fund rules and adds the Public Policy Defense Program to the list of non-lapsing appropriations.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include the creation of two new funds (Legal Services Retainer Fund and Public Policy Defense Program) and the addition of the Public Policy Defense Program to the list of non-lapsing appropriations, while modifying the rules governing how the Attorney General's office charges agencies for legal services.

REQUIREMENT

Replaced the previous flat-fee funding model with a requirement that the Attorney General charge agencies based on the actual time spent providing legal services.

Required the Attorney General and each agency to annually execute a service-level agreement detailing expected legal needs, hourly rates, and total anticipated costs.

Mandated that the Attorney General provide monthly billing reports to agencies itemizing time spent, total charges, and remaining retainer balances.

FISCAL

Created a new 'Legal Services Retainer Fund' where the Legislature appropriates money to cover anticipated legal service costs for each agency.

Established a new 'Public Policy Defense Program' within the Attorney General's office to fund the defense of the state in civil litigation challenging state statutes or involving matters of statewide importance.

Added the Public Policy Defense Program to the list of non-lapsing appropriations, ensuring funds do not expire at the end of the fiscal year.

ELIGIBILITY

Exempted the Office of the Attorney General from provisions governing internal service funds with respect to charges for legal services provided to agencies.

DEFINITION

Added new definitions for 'Agency', 'Biller', 'Legal services', 'Office', 'Retainer', 'Rate category', and 'Service-level agreement' to support the new funding structure.

Amended 3/6/2026 20:03:196 → Amended 2/18/2026 11:02:829 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to correct the Senate Sponsor's name from 'Michael K. McKell' to blank (indicating no Senate sponsor), update the effective date in the title from 2026 to 2027, and change the name of the defense program from 'Legal Services and Litigation Program' to 'Public Policy Defense Program'. The substantive legal text and policy provisions remain unchanged.

Scope change

The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; only the title, sponsorship information, and program name were updated.

TECHNICAL

The Senate Sponsor field was changed from 'Michael K. McKell' to blank, indicating the bill is now sponsored solely by the House.

TIMELINE

The effective date listed in the title was updated from May 6, 2026 to July 1, 2027.

DEFINITION

The name of the new defense program was changed from 'Legal Services and Litigation Program' to 'Public Policy Defense Program'.

Amended Excerpts 2/18/2026 11:02:829 → Amended 3/6/2026 20:03:196 · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was restructured to clarify its purpose and add detailed provisions for funding the Office of the Attorney General. The text now explicitly outlines how legal service fees are calculated, establishes a new fund for retainers, and creates a specific program for defending the state in civil litigation. Additionally, the bill expanded the list of topics that can be discussed in closed meetings to include specific ethics commission business and procurement deliberations.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include detailed operational rules for the Attorney General's legal funding and a broader definition of permissible closed meetings.

FISCAL

Added specific requirements for calculating legal service charges based on actual time spent and established a new 'Legal Services Retainer Fund' to manage agency retainers.

Created a new 'Legal Services and Litigation Program' to cover costs for defending the state in civil litigation, with nonlapsing appropriations.

REQUIREMENT

Introduced a requirement for the Attorney General's office and each agency to annually agree on a retainer amount included in the state budget.

SCOPE

Expanded the list of allowable closed meeting topics to include specific business related to ethics commissions and procurement evaluation committees.

TECHNICAL

Removed draft-style markup symbols and placeholder text that indicated where edits were being made in the legislative process.

Amended Excerpts 3/6/2026 20:03:196 → Amended Excerpts 2/18/2026 11:02:829 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to shift from a Senate version to a House version, which introduces a new 'Legal Services Retainer Fund' to manage state litigation costs. The House version clarifies that unspent funds from the General Fund will be retained for future public policy defense, whereas the Senate version would have returned those funds to their original source. Additionally, the House version expands the criteria for the office to handle cases to include matters of statewide importance, in addition to constitutional challenges.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to explicitly include matters of statewide importance as a criterion for the office to administer civil litigation, and a new fund structure was created to manage these legal expenses.

FISCAL

Created a new 'Legal Services Retainer Fund' to hold agency retainers for legal services.

Changed the handling of unspent retainers: funds from the General Fund are now retained in the new fund for future use, while restricted funds are returned to their original source.

Removed the provision that unspent retainers funded by restricted sources should be returned to the original source, replacing it with a retention rule for General Fund money.

SCOPE

Added 'matters of statewide importance' as a specific condition under which the office may represent the state in civil litigation.

Enrolled → Amended Excerpts 3/6/2026 20:03:196 · 1 edit

MINOR

The bill was amended to change the criteria for when the Attorney General can use the Legal Services and Litigation Program to pay for civil litigation. Previously, the program could cover cases involving statewide importance or those not paid by the Risk Management Fund. The amendment now requires that a case must involve a matter of statewide importance AND not be paid for by the Risk Management Fund, effectively adding a stricter condition for program funding.

Scope change

The scope of the Legal Services and Litigation Program was narrowed by adding a new requirement that cases must meet two criteria simultaneously rather than just one.

ELIGIBILITY

The eligibility criteria for the Legal Services and Litigation Program were modified to require that a civil litigation case must involve a matter of statewide importance AND not be paid for through the Risk Management Fund, whereas previously meeting either condition was sufficient.

Introduced → Enrolled · 8 edits · Mar 19, 2026

MODERATE

This bill restructures how the Office of the Attorney General is funded and billed to state agencies. It exempts the office from standard internal service fund rules, requiring agencies to pay based on actual time spent rather than fixed fees. The bill creates a new 'Legal Services Retainer Fund' where agencies pre-pay for legal services, with excess costs covered by the agency's existing budget. It also establishes a new 'Public Policy Defense Program' to handle specific high-stakes civil litigation, ensuring those funds do not lapse at the end of the fiscal year.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of the Attorney General's funding model by creating a new enterprise fund system and a specific defense program, while simultaneously exempting the office from the general rules governing internal service funds.

FISCAL

The Office of the Attorney General is exempted from provisions governing internal service funds, allowing it to operate under a different billing structure.

A new 'Legal Services Retainer Fund' is created to hold pre-paid amounts from agencies before legal services are rendered.

A new 'Public Policy Defense Program' is created to fund the defense of the state in specific civil litigation challenges, with appropriations designated as nonlapsing.

REQUIREMENT

Agencies and the Attorney General's office must annually execute a service-level agreement detailing expected legal needs, hourly rates, and total anticipated costs.

Charges for legal services must now be calculated based on the actual time spent by attorneys or paralegals, recorded in no greater than fifteen-minute increments.

DEFINITION

New definitions are established for 'Agency', 'Biller', 'Legal services', 'Office', 'Retainer', 'Rate category', and 'Service-level agreement'.

TIMELINE

The requirement for the office to charge agencies based on actual time begins on July 1, 2027, while service-level agreements must be entered into before October 1 of each year.

SCOPE

The exemption from internal service fund rules applies to the Office of the Attorney General starting July 1, 2027.

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