A bill like this in Mississippi has been a long time in coming – wonder who will oppose it?

The deadline for introducing legislation was last week. This caused a flurry of activity in the House as legislators hurried to get their bills introduced before the cutoff.

One of the most important bills that I introduced was HB 1194, which requires the attorney general to disclose the terms of employment of any attorney he hires to represent the state in litigation.

This is commonly called the “Sunshine Act.” Its purpose is to bring openness and accountability to the employment of outside attorneys.

Under current law, the attorney general has the sole authority to hire any attorney he wants from across the state to pursue litigation on behalf of the state. He also has the sole authority to decide how much these attorneys will be paid for their services.

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