Assistant Attorney General Dustin Rollins and Chief Solicitor Robby Glass Jr. leave the courtroom after a hearing on Monday.
IT is the secretary of Finance who certifies the availability of funds at the Department of Finance, Assistant Attorney General Dustin Rollins told Superior Court Judge Pro Tempore Arthur Barcinas at a hearing on Monday.
The hearing pertains to former Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’ request for a judicial review of the Department of Finance’s refusal to issue a declaratory order on the validity of an employment contract between the AG’s office and Special Prosecutor James Robert Kingman, an off-island attorney.
During the hearing, Judge Barcinas asked, “Is the certifying officer of these funds a part of the Department of Finance? Who is the certifying officer?”
He added, “This is where my research is taking me — the questions and analysis of the case…have led me to the certifying officer’s statute for [the] CNMI.”
Rollins, who represents Finance, has asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit and affirm Finance’s administrative order, which stated that it lacked authority to issue a declaratory order regarding an existing contract.
“If agencies were required to issue declaratory rulings for determinations already made, theoretically, any person, whether an interested party or not, would be entitled to request a ruling with respect to every contract ever entered into by the Commonwealth or any agency decision ever rendered. That, without question, would be an absurd result,” Rollins said.
Torres, through his defense team, filed a petition in court requesting a judicial review of a May 17, 2023, final administrative order by the secretary of Finance, who stated that the department has no authority to issue a ruling and declare that the special prosecutor’s contract executed by the Office of the AG in connection with Commonwealth v Torres, Criminal Action No. 22-0050, was invalid.
In his judicial review petition filed on June 15, 2023, Torres named the Finance Department and the AG’s office as respondents.
The nine-page petition asked the court to vacate or set aside the final agency decision, saying that “it is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and/or contrary to law.”
The special prosecutor’s contract does not comply with the procurement regulations, the petition added.
The AG’s office, through Chief Solicitor Robby Glass Jr., has also filed a motion to dismiss the former governor’s petition for judicial review.
The petition improperly included the OAG and failed to exhaust Torres’ administrative remedies, Glass stated.
At the hearing on Monday, Barcinas asked whether the OAG wants to be dismissed from the proceedings “and not act as real party in interest.”
In response, Glass said, “The issue before the court is did the secretary of Finance make the correct decision in deciding she don’t have authority — that does not involve the AG’s office.”
The judge asked, “Let’s assume that DOF says ‘Yes, this is an invalid contract,’ what is then the response from the AG’s office? It is interesting because in all other actions involving agencies, third-party adjudication at the agency level, more often than not the agency involved is petitioning to enter the action, rather than to be removed from the action,” the judge added.
Glass, said, “I would look at that issue once it comes up. If the court says, ‘Yes she [the Finance secretary] has authority to make the decision,’ then we’re going to get back to the agency to make that determination, and we might get involved in that proceedings…depending on how the court answers the question before it.”
Judge Barcinas told the parties that he will announce hearing dates for arguing the motion.
At the hearing on Monday, the former governor was represented by attorneys Viola Alepuyo and Joaquin “Jack” Torres.
