Email (excerpted), Jerry Strickland, press secretary, Office of the Attorney General, Sept. 30, 2014

9:23 p.m.

...can you point me to the biennial reports already filed in connection with the 2007 law?

Each biennium, the OAG provides privileged attorney client communications concerning potential settlements requiring legislative approval.  If a settlement is reached, the settlement is presented to the legislature for consideration.

3)     In our story, we want to be clear how the 2007 mandate works in practice, either in general or in connection with individual cases, whichever makes sense to the agency. That is, after that law took effect, did the attorney general stop settling cases until a legislative panel or the full Legislature or some admixture signed off? Alternatively, did the AG continue to settle cases but bar any settlement from taking final effect pending legislative consent? How did (does) this work, procedurally?

Procedurally, when a settlement may implicate the statute, the opposing party is notified that any settlement reached will be subject to legislative approval.  The terms of the settlement are negotiated before the settlement is brought to the legislature.  The Legislature can then approve, reject or request modifications to a settlement.