An effort to get the Idaho Legislature to stop consulting the state attorney general's office and get its own lawyers has failed in the 2011 session.

Republican Rep. Vito Barbieri, of Dalton Gardens, wanted the Legislature to hire two attorneys for a new "Office of Legislative Counsel."

Barbieri said there's a conflict of interest to have the attorney general's office, which is part of the separate executive branch of state government, weighing in on constitutional questions that come up during the legislative process.

Barbieri said Thursday he'll bring a bill up for legislative counsel much earlier during the next session.

This time, the House State Affairs Committee was buried under other work, so he withdrew his bill.

"It's too close to the end of the session" to deal with it, he said.

"Clearly there's a lot more discussion that needs to be had," he said. "We need to fully vet it, so people understand what we're dealing with."

Other North Idaho lawmakers expressed concerns with Barbieri's bill.

Barbieri was irked with the attorney general's office because of an opinion on a previous bill he sponsored to nullify the federal health care overhaul. His latest measure would have paid for the new attorneys by shifting money from the attorney general's budget.

- The Associated Press contributed to this report