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Lawmaker wants to limit time anyone can serve as acting AG
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Posted on Dec 07 2008
Legislation has been introduced to limit the time anyone can serve as acting attorney general in the Northern Marianas.
Rep. Ray N. Yumul sponsored the bill, which would prohibit an acting attorney general to occupy the position for 30 days without Senate approval. The bill would also set a 90-day limit for an AG nominee to be confirmed by Senate.
Yumul’s bill says the proposed amendment comes in the wake of recent events relating to the Office of the Attorney General.
Deputy attorney general Gregory Baka has led the AG’s office in an acting capacity since late September, when former AG Matthew Gregory resigned. In October, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial said he intended to appoint Baka to serve as AG on an official basis, but no formal nomination has been sent to the Senate for confirmation.
The bill states that while short-term “acting appointments” may be necessary from time to time, “such appointees, who have not been nominated or appointed by the governor nor confirmed by the Senate, do not carry the same status as those who have been…. Significantly, a so-called ‘acting attorney general’ lacks the imprimatur of authority befitting the head of the Office of the Attorney General.”
The purpose of the legislation, adds the bill, is “to remove perceived statutory ambiguities concerning the capacity of an individual to serve as a de facto attorney general absent Senate confirmation. This judicial call to clarify the existing statutes has thus far been unheeded. It is the intent of the Legislature to address the issues concerning the appointments of individuals to the position of Attorney General as well as address those cases wherein one serves merely in an ‘acting’ capacity.”
