http://www.legis.state.wi.us/statutes/Stat0165.pdf
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.
