When the state has a duty to defend any action pursuant to the provisions of this act, it shall be the duty of the Attorney General to defend all such actions, unless an agency of the state is authorized by law to employ its own attorneys, in which case said attorneys may defend such actions against the agency or the agency may request that the Attorney General defend such actions. If such a request is made, the Attorney General shall defend any such action.
Okla. Stat. tit. 51, § 161.1