|
|
| AG wants to charge Corrections for legal help |
| By MLive.com |
| Published: 12/22/2003 |
|
Fighting to save his office from more budget cuts, Attorney General Mike Cox said he wants state departments, particularly the $1.7 billion Mich. Department of Corrections, to start paying for legal services. Cox said in an year-end interview with reporters last Monday that his office has been especially hard-hit by budget woes, losing 53 attorneys in the past three years. He's facing a new round of $750,000 in cuts from Gov. Jennifer Granholm's most recent executive order. "This department has been getting hammered for the last three years and the hammering didn't stop last week,'' he said. Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said Cox isn't being asked to make sacrifices beyond those of other state departments. "There's probably not an agency in state government that wouldn't like more money, but as the governor has said, we've all got to learn to work in the rain,'' Boyd said. Cox said the attorney general's office is a money-generator, bringing in $6 for every dollar spent running the office. This year, the office collected $326 million from tobacco, charitable trust, consumer and franchise litigation, he said. The new Child Support Collection Division brought in $1.4 million in overdue support, which went largely to families, since May. A second new program promises to combat identity theft in nursing and adult foster care homes and educate the public on the subject. Boyd said Cox's office has taken a 10.34 percent cut this year over the budget originally passed last year, while the Department of Agriculture was cut 22.6 percent and civil service was cut 21.8 percent. Cox said he laid off four attorneys and two support staff last month in anticipation of budget cuts. He said money to the Department of Corrections jumped by $100 million this year. Seventeen of the 101 assistant attorneys general paid from general funds work on corrections issues. Some state departments already pay for legal services, using federal money allowed for that purpose. Cox said he's also told lawmakers he needs $750,000 restored if he's to conduct a statewide investigation of intermediate school districts. Such an inquiry would require the hiring of special auditors to see if ISDs have properly spent money. |
advertise
|
privacy policy
|
add URL
|
about us
|
terms/disclaimer
|
contact us
|
join our team
|
help
If you are facing any problem with legal issues on construction projects, you can take proper advice from construction lawyers as they are the true legal force that can help you establish your project without any difficulty from the government.