On Feb. 10, 2026, the Washington Legal Foundation released a Working Paper titled “Reining in Local Government Encroachment on Attorney General Litigating Authority: Legislative and Litigation Solutions.” The paper is authored by former Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna and former Chief Deputy Attorney General of Wisconsin Andy Cook, with a foreword by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach.
The publication examines litigation brought by municipalities and counties in areas such as public health, safety, and the environment. It discusses strategies that state attorneys general and legislatures can use to address what it describes as incursions into the authority of state attorneys general. According to Kobach in the foreword, “The solutions recommended in this paper are crucial to stopping this growing threat to state attorney general authority. This is not a partisan issue—both Democratic and Republican attorneys general face the same legal threat in their states.”
The paper highlights that lawsuits initiated by political subdivisions, often with private contingent-fee counsel, may affect the constitutional or statutory powers held by attorneys general as the state’s primary legal officer. It says these lawsuits can bind states to outcomes more beneficial for lawyers than citizens or delay compensation for alleged victims. The litigation can also increase costs for businesses and consumers.
McKenna and Cook document an increase in lawsuits from political subdivisions targeting producers of PFAS, climate emissions, ultra-processed foods, and plastics. They explain legal doctrines that limit local governments’ ability to bring such cases.
The authors describe legislative responses such as a Texas law granting its attorney general authority to review subdivision contracts with private counsel for litigation services. They also discuss a 2025 Kansas legislative proposal—which was ultimately vetoed—that would have set specific conditions for attorney general approval of contingent-fee contracts at the local level.
The paper concludes with an analysis of litigation strategies used by attorneys general in Kansas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania when counties acted as clients for plaintiffs’ lawyers in lawsuits against product manufacturers.
For more information, see the full release at Washington Legal Foundation.
