Gov. Olene Walker said Thursday that the attorney general's office should defend Utah against any legal challenges to the new anti-gay-marriage amendment to the state constitution.

But Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, who wants the state to hire outside counsel in the event of a lawsuit because of Attorney General Mark Shurtleff's opposition to the amendment, said he was not swayed by the governor.

Buttars told the Deseret Morning News there's a "50-50 chance" that lawmakers will come up with a bill next session that will allow them to choose the attorneys that represent the state without consulting the attorney general's office.

Meanwhile, two attorneys who supported the Utah campaign for the constitutional ban said Thursday that a new nonprofit corporation, the Marriage Law Foundation, is willing to do just that by offering legal advice nationwide in efforts to ban same-sex marriage. Monte Stewart and Bill Duncan said they and the foundation will work with like-minded groups to defend the traditional concept of marriage.

"Since the election, Bill Duncan and I have fielded telephone calls daily from around the country, which brought home even more forcefully the need for the Marriage Law Foundation," Stewart said.

During the taping of her monthly televised press conference on KUED Ch. 7, Walker that the attorney general's office should be able to handle any lawsuits filed now that Amendment 3 has been approved by voters.

"We have a very well qualified attorney general's office," Walker said. "It's the largest law firm in the state of Utah. I certainly think that within that law firm, within the state attorney general's office, there is the capability of handling it."

Gov.-elect Jon Huntsman Jr. shares that view, said his chief of staff, Jason Chaffetz.

"We agree with the governor on that," Chaffetz said. "This is clearly the responsibility of the attorney general, and we believe he should be representing the state on this issue."

Shurtleff said he appreciated the support. "There are only a couple out there who don't feel that way," he said, promising to "continue to try to work" with them. The attorney general said he will meet next week with Buttars.

"There've been some strong feelings, obviously. . . . I still think the best way is for our office to handle it," Shurtleff said. "We're moving on. There's not going to be any retribution or retaliation."

Heated issue

The issue of who should represent the state on this issue has become increasingly heated, even though there is no immediate threat of a lawsuit. Opponents of the amendment have said they'll wait to see what happens to similar changes made to other states' constitutions.