New AG Opinion Process

On July 15, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul announced a new procedure for promulgating attorney general opinions. The new format will allow citizens to provide comment on proposed attorney general opinions from the Department of Justice website.

Attorney General Kaul said the goal of the change was to make the process more “transparent and open to input from the public.” See the press release here.

In Wisconsin, the legislature and certain officials can ask the Attorney General for a formal legal opinion on matters of law. This usually happens when some ambiguity in the law exists. AG Opinions do not bind a court’s reading of the law, but have persuasive value.