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Friday, March 24, 2006
Ind. Gov't. - Move IDEM lawyers to AG's office?
Indiana Legislative Insight's hot-off-the-press new issue (subscription only, quoted with permission) reports that the AG has entered into a three-month contract:
with former State Securities Commissioner James Joven – a Republican candidate for Small Claims Court judge in Lawrence Township – to provide legal services regarding Environmental Law. According to the contract, the Governor’s Office, the OAG, and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management “are exploring ways to improve the legal services the State of Indiana renders in implementing and enforcing the State’s environmental laws,” and the Governor’s Office is assessing the “operation and structure of IDEM’s Office of Legal Counsel and OAG’s Environmental Section to assist in reorganization and consolidation of environmental legal services within the Office of the Attorney General.” Funding for the $30,000 contract comes from IDEM funds under a Memorandum of Understanding with the AG’s Office.When IDEM was carved out of the former Indiana State Board of Health in 1985, a rudimentary legal department was created by statute. Until then, its attorneys were part of the OAG. IDEM attorneys handled cases through the administrative process, and then the AG’s Office assumed responsibility when they went to court . . . and that is still how the process works. As IDEM organization was beginning to shake out in its early years, a Democrat was elected governor, but the AG was still a Republican, which helped cement the separation.
One big problem, those who practice in the area tell us, is that both legal and policy issues (not to mention the occasional political consideration) are interweaved in almost every IDEM function and action: rulemaking, compliance assistance, enforcement, legislative issues, etc. That is why some favor retaining the existing demarcation, as long as the AG is a separately elected official, and regardless of his or her party. Others suggest that the current system makes it difficult for those who take cases to trial to develop comprehensive understanding of and expertise in environmental law, and that the familiarity attorneys in the AG’s Office would gain in working exclusively on environmental cases would benefit the system. * * *
Under the contract, Joven will review the relevant OLC and OAG organization, functions, work, budget, caseloads, operations, statutory provisions, missions, values, protocols, and the like, and issue recommendations for improving the areas and future funding and compensation.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 24, 2006 10:51 AM
Posted to Environment | Indiana Government