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land should not appeal the case without the
concurrence of the executive branch of the
government.
Now, if the attorney general and the
governor work out some arrangement with
respect to criminal matters, that may well
be tolerated and provided for by the Gen-
eral Assembly, but it seems to me that you
do not tell your client what you have done
on his behalf and to what you have pledged
him after you have actually done it and
without consulting him.
The attorney general is a lawyer, and he
serves a client, and I believe that the pur-
pose of my amendment is to see to it that
he acts as a lawyer and not as a policy
maker or policy setter.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mason.
DELEGATE MASON: Would it not be
better, then, for this lawyer whom you
describe to be appointed by the Governor,
rather than be elected ?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gallagher.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: I think that
that question has pretty generally been
disposed of, and I will not seek to argue it
again.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mason, Dele-
gate Gallagher has only a few minutes left
for questioning. There are other delegates
who desire the floor. Do you yield the floor?
DELEGATE MASON: Yes.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Boyer.
DELEGATE BOYER: 1 am wondering if
these limitations on the legal powers would
not deprive the Attorney General of his
investigatory powers in fields such as sav-
ings and loan, or consumer protection. Is
this your intention ?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gallagher.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: I would not
so interpret this language as such a limita-
tion.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Boyer.
DELEGATE BOYER: Assuming just for
the sake of argument that this amendment
does pass and is acceptable, would it not
be consistent with the Constitution that we
allow also the General Assembly to pre-
scribe the duties of the comptroller and
other officers ?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gallagher.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: I do not be-
lieve there is anything which prevents the
General Assembly from conferring addi-
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tional powers and duties upon the comp-
troller.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Dukes, you
have an opportunity for one or two short
questions.
DELEGATE DUKES: Delegate Gallag-
her, you said the legislature could give the
attorney general practically no powers.
Could it also make him legal advisor to all
the boards, commissions, and departments
in the State?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gallagher.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: Yes. I be-
lieve it could, in the absence of other con-
stitutional provisions, one of which I plan
to offer.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Dukes.
DELEGATE DUKES: And also the power
over the performance of all legal person-
nel within those departments ?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gallagher.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: I do not so
interpret this amendment as providing that
effect.
THE CHAIRMAN: One more question,
Delegate Dukes.
DELEGATE DUKES: Could it provide
that any opinion he gave in his position as
exclusive legal advisor to any of these
boards or departments was binding on that
board ?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gallagher.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: I believe it
could.
THE CHAIRMAN: I assume to the ex-
tent such provision would not be in conflict
with other constitutional provisions.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: Yes, sir.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Morgan.
DELEGATE MORGAN: Mr. Chairman,
the recommendation which we have re-
ported out to the Convention was really a
compromise between two points of view:
One, the desire to have constitutional duties
of the Attorney General set out, and the
other group which wanted to have the
General Assembly prescribe the duties of
the Attorney General. What we reported
really represents a compromise between
those two points of view. It specifies cer-
tain duties of the attorney general in the
constitution, and also gives the General
Assembly broad powers to confer additional
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