PIERRE — A bill that would allow the Legislature to hire its own legal representation was endorsed on Tuesday by the S.D. House of Representatives.
HB1004 allows the Legislature to employ legal counsel other than the attorney general to defend the Legislature in a civil action or defend either house of the Legislature or a member who is sued in the legislator’s official capacity. The counsel could be hired by the Legislatures Executive Board or through a concurrent resolution approved by both houses.
Rep. Steven Haugaard, R-Sioux Falls, said the prospect of the Legislature being sued increases with redistricting on the horizon after the 2020 Census. Haugaard explained that Virginia was involved in protracted litigation only to find out that it had no standing in the lawsuit since it didn’t have a law like the one proposed in HB1004.
“This bill seems to give us the ability to defend ourselves,” Haugaard said. “This is just addressing the what ifs.”
While the attorney general traditionally defends the Legislature in lawsuits, Haugaard said that might not always be the case.
Rep. Tim Reed, R-Brookings, said he believes the Executive Board has the ability to hire outside counsel. Reed said he would support the bill if the entire Legislature always had to concur.
Rep. Lee Qualm, R-Platte, noted that a special session of the Legislature costs $100,000.
Rep. Jean Hunhoff, R-Yankton, said that the fund that would be used to pay an outside counsel was originally set up to pay for legislative pilot projects. To date, the attorney general has never failed to defend the Legislature, Hunhoff said.
Haugaard said there are hundreds of thousands of dollars spent every year by state government on outside legal counsel.
“It baffles me why the Legislature chooses to hamstring itself,” Haugaard said.
The House endorsed the bill on a vote of 52-15. It now goes to the Senate.
