FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2014 file photo, state Attorney General Cynthia Coffman speaks to supporters during the GOP election night gathering, in Denver, Colo. The Colorado Republican Party chairman on Tuesday, June 16, 2015 accused Coffman and former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo of trying to force him from his position and warning he may face a lawsuit and false allegations of infidelity if he refused to leave. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, file)

DENVER | Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman asked the state Supreme Court on Friday to dismiss Gov. John Hickenlooper’s complaint about lawsuits she filed without his permission.

FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2014 file photo, state Attorney General Cynthia Coffman speaks to supporters during the GOP election night gathering, in Denver, Colo. The Colorado Republican Party chairman on Tuesday, June 16, 2015 accused Coffman and former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo of trying to force him from his position and warning he may face a lawsuit and false allegations of infidelity if he refused to leave. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, file)

Hickenlooper asked the high court earlier this month to rule that he, not the attorney general, has the final say on whether to sue the federal government. But Coffman argued in Friday’s motion that her office is allowed and obligated to independently file lawsuits to protect the state’s interests.

According to the motion, the state Supreme Court already settled the issue in a 2003 case involving Democrat Ken Salazar, Colorado’s attorney general at the time.

That case, Coffman said, rejected the notion that as “supreme executive,” the governor can prevent the attorney general from filing lawsuits on behalf of the state.

“This case is merely an attempt to have the Court choose sides in a disagreement between the Governor and an independently elected Attorney General,” Coffman wrote.

Hickenlooper petitioned the state Supreme Court on Nov. 4 after he complained that Coffman should not have joined about two dozen other states in suing the Environmental Protection Agency over new air pollution rules without his authorization.

Coffman said the rules are an illegal overreach. The governor supports the rules and is trying to implement them.

Hickenlooper is asking the court to force Coffman to withdraw lawsuits against the federal government that were filed without his permission, including one in Wyoming over fracking rules, one in North Dakota over clean water rules and the latest in Washington, D.C., over the EPA’s air pollution rules.

The argument widens the rift between the Democratic governor and the Republican attorney general over the EPA rules for power plant pollution, called the Clean Power Plan.

Hickenlooper has said the lawsuit over the new air pollution rules will create uncertainty and make it difficult for the industry to plan cost-effective ways to cut pollution.

Kathy Green, Hickenlooper’s spokeswoman, says the governor is still reviewing Coffman’s motion and stressed that he has not sued the attorney general as suggested by her office.

“In fact, the governor has generally worked to resolve problems through collaboration and regards litigation as a last resort, not the first,” Green said.