Governor Walker’s budget recommendation provides the Attorney General authority to appoint, in the unclassified service, a Solicitor General and no more than three deputy solicitors general.  Further, the Governor’s recommendation provides the Attorney General authority to assign assistant attorneys general to assist the Solicitor General.  In executive action on Thursday, May 7, the Joint Committee on Finance approved creation of this office.  In a slight revision to the Governor’s recommendation, the committee voted to eliminate four vacant positions in the agency in exchange for creating these four new appointed positions.

The Wisconsin Civil Justice Council supported the Governor’s recommendation and argued creating a Solicitor General’s office will:

• Allow the Attorney General to provide more direction to and supervision of litigation.
• Allow the Attorney General to help ensure the state’s legal arguments, litigation strategy, and representation reflect his or her priorities.

Such an office is a well-established practice within the United States. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau, in its analysis of the Governor’s recommendation, noted that “[a]ttorney general offices in 42 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, had [in March of 2014] a person appointed to oversee their offices’ civil appellate practice, and in some cases criminal appellate practice.”

Related news coverage: Committee OKs Solicitor General Office for DOJ.