It is a first step, and it’s the type of step challenged Democrat incumbent A.G. Darrell McGraw dreads, and Republican challenger Dan Greear needs to pull off the upset of 2008.  From Legal News Line:

Among the recommendations is one that suggests any settlement fees over $300,000 be “immediately transferred to the State General Fund by the attorney general’s office.”

To date, none of these recommendations have been enacted. Only HB 104, which requires the attorney general to notify the governor and legislators when filing a lawsuit and when entering into settlement agreements.

Republican Sen. Vic Sprouse called the bill “toothless.”

“I don’t think it’s progress because it is strictly a ‘reporting’ requirement after the fact,” Sprouse, who was a member of the 2001 joint committee, said. “I mean, I guess it’s better than nothing, but it does show how scared the legislative leadership is of Attorney General Darrell McGraw that they only require him to tell them after he settles.”

A May 2007 story in the National Law Journal listed West Virginia as one of several state legislatures introducing bills that would create oversight over the attorney general’s outside interests.

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