The Office of the Attorney General presented their budget request for the 2026 fiscal year Tuesday.

A $2.86 million increase from FY 2025, the OAG is requesting $24.1M.

Senator Christopher Dueñas said with Adelup’s suggested request for the OAG sitting at $19 million, the legislature will do their best to get “as close as possible to the office’s request given current fiscal constraints.”

“We’re trying to keep this as an operational budget, a bare bones budget,” said Moylan. “I do not believe in overspending the money that’s given to us.”

Oversight Chair of the OAG, Senator Telo Taitague, questions the office's staffing and recruitment challenges.

“According to your document here, you need 96 attorneys. You only have 40 at this point,” said Taitague. 

Responding, the AG cited delayed allotments by the Department of Administration, admitting that some attorneys have resigned after not receiving timely pay.

Taitague asked whether they would benefit from fiscal autonomy similar to the judiciary and the public auditor.

“We have the computers, the people, and the staff. What we need is the legislative authority to be truly independent,” said Moylan. 

Taitague also raised concerns about the Child Support Enforcement Division’s efforts to return undistributed child support funds totaling $5.3 million.

Deputy Attorney General Ray Ilagan says with dwindling staff numbers going from 60 to now only 41 employees, it’s taking more time to distribute the funds to rightful owners, but they are doing what they can.

Senator Shawn Gumataotao focused his questioning on increases in employee benefits, asking why the AG’s request has increased by nearly $950,000.

Fiscal Officer Thomas Paulino responded, “That already included the increase in contribution and that was established  by BBMR. So, we’re using their figures. If it does change, it usually changes in the next fiscal year based on the OPA audit.”

Sen. Sabrina Salas Matanane goes back to the undistributed child support funds.

“I’m just curious, what does that break down to in terms of children, families, parents that are owed this money,” said Matanane. 

“It varies. I can’t say how many cases it involves. What we’re doing now is we’re going through different types of categories and we’re trying to analyze and locate the individuals in those cases. So, it’s on a case-by-case basis that we have to do it,” said Ilagan. 

To end, the AG’s office says serving the people of Guam requires resources and while its request represents less than 2% of the government’s overall FY 2026 budget, they remain committed to doing all they can to further streamline their operations.