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of a legal rubber stamp and a convenient
oracle of the law for the governor's pur-
pose. I think I am one of those who would
like to see the attorney general in Maine
elected at large by the people."
The attorney general of Alaska, who is
appointed by the governor, had this to say:
"Again, from my own experience, if I
were given the choice, I would be in-
clined to favor the elective position over
the appointive, for the simple reason
that I believe that a lawyer can func-
tion more effectively if he has freedom
of action in his own specialized field."
In addition to the attorney general's
statement from Alaska, who was appointed
by the governor, the attorney general of
Hawaii, who is appointed by the governor,
has recently indicated that it would be
better as a matter of principle to have an
attorney general for the whole State,
rather than just the executive department.
In closing, I would like to quote from a
statement made by Louis J. Lefkowitz, At-
torney General for New York, to the New
York Constitutional Convention in favor of
the elected attorney general.
"To sum it up, an elected attorney
general has a measure of independence
and a sense of personal and direct re-
sponsibility to the public. The elected
official has a natural and impelling de-
sire to be creative and to exercise broader
initiative in the service of the public. He
is free of the fear of dismissal by any
superior official if he should exercise
contrary independent judgment. He is in
the best position to render maximum
service to the people and impartial ad-
vice to the governor, the legislature, and
state departments and agencies. He can
appear in court without fear or favor, an
attorney in the fullest and finest sense of
the word."
Ladies and gentlemen of this Committee,
Mr. Justice Holmes has been frequently
quoted in this Convention as saying "The
law is not logic, but experience."
I suggest to you that we cannot be blind
to the fact that experience in this State
and other states unmistakably teaches that
an elected attorney general, clothed with
the independence and responsibility to the
people, is far superior to an appointed at-
torney general, subservient and accountable
only to the governor.
Therefore, on behalf of the minority com-
mittee, I urge you to retain the office of
attorney general in this constitution.
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Mr. Chairman, I will yield to questions.
(President H. Vernon Eney, resumed the
Chair.)
THE CHAIRMAN: Are there any ques-
tions of the minority spokesman?
Delegate Sickles.
DELEGATE SICKLES: I wonder if the
spokesman for the minority would explain
in just a minute where the assistant at-
torneys general are located, where they are
employed, and what their functions are? I
am a bit confused. I was looking at the
report of the attorney general rather
quickly, and I have a list of twelve in the
civil division and ten in the criminal divi-
sion. I know I read somewhere else that
there are some more. Where are they lo-
cated, and what do they do?
DELEGATE MASON: They have, as
you indicated, twelve in the civil division
and ten in the criminal division.
They have about thirty-some, I do not
know the exact number — it is in the re-
port — assigned to the other agencies. Most
of them are assigned to the State Roads
Commission. They work in condemnation
cases for the State Roads Commission.
They do have other attorneys assigned
to the Department of Motor Vehicles and
some other state agencies.
DELEGATE SICKLES: Are they physi-
cally located with these other agencies, or
are they physically located in the house of
the attorneys general?
DELEGATE MASON: They are physi-
cally located with the other agencies, al-
though they come under the supervision of
the attorney general; and I might add that
some of them are paid out of the budget
of these agencies. Now, to take advantage
of federal funds, a lot of these attorneys
are paid out of the budgets for the agen-
cies that are handling federal work.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Sickles.
DELEGATE SICKLES: By what
method does the attorney general supervise
the performance of these attorneys general
who are not under his direct control?
DELEGATE MASON: Every opinion
written by an attorney general, whether
he is in the main office or in an office of
another part of the Executive Branch,
must be reviewed by the attorney general's
office.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Sickles.
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