Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 165 - Department of justice.
165.015 - Duties.

165.015 Duties. The attorney general shall:
(1) Give opinion to officers. Give his or her opinion in writing, when required, without fee, upon all questions of law submitted to him or her by the legislature, either house thereof or the senate or assembly committee on organization, or by the head of any department of state government.
(2) Protect trust funds. Examine all applications for loans from any of the trust funds, and furnish to the commissioners of public lands his or her opinion in writing as to the regularity of each such application, and also of the validity of any bonds or other securities purchased for the benefit of such funds.
(3) Certify bonds. Examine a certified copy of all proceedings preliminary to any issue of state bonds or notes, and, if found regular and valid, endorse on each bond or note his or her certificate of such examination and validity. The attorney general shall also make similar examinations and certificates respecting municipal bonds in the cases specified in s. 67.025.
(4) Keep statement of fees. Keep a detailed statement of all fees, including his or her fees as commissioner of public lands, received by him or her during the preceding year, and file such statement with the department of administration on or before June 30 in each year.
(5) Report to legislature. Upon request of the legislature or either house thereof, submit a report upon any matters pertaining to the duties of his or her office to the chief clerk of each house of the legislature, for distribution to the legislature under s. 13.172 (2).
(6) Perform other duties. Perform all other duties imposed upon the attorney general by law.
History: 1971 c. 40 s. 93; 1971 c. 125; 1983 a. 36 s. 96 (2); 1987 a. 186; 1993 a. 482.
The attorney general, absent a specific legislative grant of power, is devoid of the inherent power to initiate and prosecute litigation intended to protect or promote the interests of the state or its citizens and cannot act for the state as parens patriae. Estate of Sharp, 63 Wis. 2d 254, 217 N.W.2d 258 (1974).
The attorney general does not have authority to challenge the constitutionality of statutes. Any authority the attorney general has is found in the statutes. The attorney general's constitutional powers and statutory powers are one and the same. State v. City of Oak Creek, 2000 WI 9, 232 Wis. 2d 612, 605 N.W.2d 526, 97-2188.
The powers of the attorney general in Wisconsin. Van Alstyne & Roberts. 1974 WLR 721.

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