§ 63. General duties. The attorney-general shall:\n 1. Prosecute and defend all actions and proceedings in which the state\nis interested, and have charge and control of all the legal business of\nthe departments and bureaus of the state, or of any office thereof which\nrequires the services of attorney or counsel, in order to protect the\ninterest of the state, but this section shall not apply to any of the\nmilitary department bureaus or military offices of the state. No action\nor proceeding affecting the property or interests of the state shall be\ninstituted, defended or conducted by any department, bureau, board,\ncouncil, officer, agency or instrumentality of the state, without a\nnotice to the attorney-general apprising him of the said action or\nproceeding, the nature and purpose thereof, so that he may participate\nor join therein if in his opinion the interests of the state so warrant.\n 2. Whenever required by the governor, attend in person, or by one of\nhis deputies, any term of the supreme court or appear before the grand\njury thereof for the purpose of managing and conducting in such court or\nbefore such jury criminal actions or proceedings as shall be specified\nin such requirement; in which case the attorney-general or his deputy so\nattending shall exercise all the powers and perform all the duties in\nrespect of such actions or proceedings, which the district attorney\nwould otherwise be authorized or required to exercise or perform; and in\nany of such actions or proceedings the district attorney shall only\nexercise such powers and perform such duties as are required of him by\nthe attorney-general or the deputy attorney-general so attending. In all\nsuch cases all expenses incurred by the attorney-general, including the\nsalary or other compensation of all deputies employed, shall be a county\ncharge.\n 3. Upon request of the governor, comptroller, secretary of state,\ncommissioner of transportation, superintendent of financial services,\ncommissioner of taxation and finance, commissioner of motor vehicles, or\nthe state inspector general, or the head of any other department,\nauthority, division or agency of the state, investigate the alleged\ncommission of any indictable offense or offenses in violation of the law\nwhich the officer making the request is especially required to execute\nor in relation to any matters connected with such department, and to\nprosecute the person or persons believed to have committed the same and\nany crime or offense arising out of such investigation or prosecution or\nboth, including but not limited to appearing before and presenting all\nsuch matters to a grand jury.\n 4. Cause all persons indicted for corrupting or attempting to corrupt\nany member or member-elect of the legislature, or the commissioner of\ngeneral services, to be brought to trial.\n 5. When required by the comptroller or the superintendent of public\nworks, prepare proper drafts for contracts, obligations and other\ninstruments for the use of the state.\n 6. Upon receipt thereof, pay into the treasury all moneys received by\nhim for debts due or penalties forfeited to the people of the state.\n 7. He may, on behalf of the state, agree upon a case containing a\nstatement of the facts and submit a controversy for decision to a court\nof record which would have jurisdiction of an action brought on the same\ncase. He may agree that a referee, to be appointed in an action to which\nthe state is a party, shall receive such compensation at such rate per\nday as the court in the order of reference may specify. He may with the\napproval of the governor retain counsel to recover moneys or property\nbelonging to the state, or to the possession of which the state is\nentitled, upon an agreement that such counsel shall receive reasonable\ncompensation, to be fixed by the attorney-general, out of the property\nrecovered, and not otherwise.\n 8. Whenever in his judgment the public interest requires it, the\
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