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The Legal & Political Importance of State Attorneys General - UCLA Law School - Fall 2022

Zoeller v East Chicago Second Century Inc., 904 N.E.2d 213, April 13, 2009 (Supplemental Reading)

Focus on Part I.  The power and authority of the Indiana Attorney General is not constitutional; rather, it is based on statutory law.  Even so, the courts recognize the common law authority of the AG.

"While the [Indiana] Attorney General is now considered a statutory officer possessing statutory powers, the legislature’s subsequent adoption of the trust code (enumerating the Attorney General’s role, Ind.Code § 30–4–5–12) did not abrogate the common law view of the Attorney General’s authority, 'but rather codified it.'” 

"[T]he broad common law and statutory authority [has been] conferred upon the Attorney General to protect the public interest in charitable and benevolent instrumentalities..."]