We Paid For It: Defending State Lawsuits

It seems like more and more Oklahoma laws are being challenged in court and that's costing us.  In the past 2 years alone, at least 10 laws have faced legal challenges.

Some of you may be familiar with, like the ban on Sharia Law, also called international law, when deciding cases. Another one requires women to have an ultrasound before an abortion. Needing an ID to vote also remains the focus of several lawsuits.

So are more of these laws ending up in court these days? Constitutional challenges have been going on in Oklahoma and around the country for decades. Some just don't make headlines. The Attorney General's office says recently the cases are more high profile.

Right now there are 46 open constitutional challenges in our state, some dating back a decade. Nineteen attorneys with the state AG's office oversee these cases, as well as another 800 more. Their annual budget is $1.1 million dollars.