State attorney general


The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states, of the federal district, or of any of the territories is the chief legal advisor to the state government and the state's chief law enforcement officer. In some states, the attorney general serves as the head of a state department of justice, with responsibilities similar to those of the United States Department of Justice.

History

The concept of a state attorney general originates with the attorneys general of the Thirteen Colonies, who in turn were modeled after the Attorney General for England and Wales. The first recorded appointment of an attorney general in the colonies was Virginia's appointment of Richard Lee I in 1643. The office may have existed for some time in a colony before it was recorded in official records. For example, Maryland was settled in 1634 but an attorney general is not mentioned in its records until 1658. In the colonial era, the office was poorly defined, and the pay was terrible and not commensurate to the scope and amount of work. The primitive state of statutory law in the colonies meant that practicing English law required a strong grasp of the common law to fill in the gaps. This was quite a problem when most of the people who actually understood the common law were still in England.
Of the 50 states in the Union, 34 states created or continued the office in their state constitution, eight others created the office in statutory law at the time of statehood, and eight others did not have an attorney general when they became states. A few states were slow to establish the office. Vermont's 1793 constitution mentions an attorney general but the legislature did not actually pass legislation to implement that constitutional provision until 1904. Some states went through the odd exercise of creating the office, abolishing it, then reestablishing it. Specifically, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, and Massachusetts all went through periods of disestablishing and reestablishing their state attorney general offices. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and all the inhabited federal territories now have an attorney general or chief legal officer.

Selection

The most prevalent method of selecting a state's attorney general is by popular election. 43 states have an elected attorney general. Elected attorneys general serve a four-year term, except in Vermont, where the term is two years.
Seven states do not popularly elect an attorney general. In Alaska, Hawaii, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Wyoming, the attorney general is appointed by the governor. The attorney general in Tennessee is appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court for an eight-year term. In Maine, the attorney general is elected by the state Legislature for a two-year term.
The District of Columbia and two U.S. territories, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, elect their attorneys general for a four-year term. 2014 marked the first year that the District of Columbia and the Northern Mariana Islands held an election for the office. In American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the attorney general is appointed by the governor. In Puerto Rico, the attorney general is officially called the secretary of justice, but is commonly known as the Puerto Rico attorney general.
Many states have passed term limits limiting the selection to 2 consecutive terms ; 2 terms maximum, but 33 states have no term limits.

Duties

The specific duties of a state attorney general vary significantly from state to state, but there are several duties common to most offices:
  • Control of litigation involving the state ;
  • Chief legal officer of the state ;
  • Drafting advisory opinions on state law;
  • Public advocacy ;
  • Criminal law enforcement ;
  • Law reform ;
  • Exercising investigative authority ; and
  • Setting public policy.

    Defense of the state in federal lawsuits

State attorneys general enforce both state and federal laws. Because they are sworn to uphold the United States' constitution and laws as well as the state's, they may decline to defend a state law in a federal preemption case.

Organization

Two of the most common management models for organizing a state attorney general office are the "chief deputy model" and the "multideputy cabinet model".
In the "chief deputy model", the state attorney general delegates supervisory authority over all substantive divisions to a chief deputy attorney general, who acts as the de facto chief executive officer and presides over executive committee meetings.
In the "multideputy cabinet model", there is no chief deputy. The office's substantive divisions are consolidated under a small number of first assistant or chief assistant attorneys general who together form the office's executive committee and function as a de facto cabinet to the state attorney general.

Current attorneys general

The current party composition of the state attorneys general is:
The composition for the District of Columbia and the 5 populated territories is:
Rows of the attorney general table below are color coded indicating the political party of the office holder.
OfficeholderStatePartyAssumed officeTerm expiresLaw schoolTerm limits
AlabamaRepublican10 2 20172027 University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa2 consecutive terms

Acting		AlaskaRepublican29 8 2025AppointedUniversity of Houstonno term limits
American SamoaNonpartisan7 2 2025AppointedUniversity of Hawaii, Manoa
ArizonaDemocratic2 1 20232027Arizona State University2 consecutive terms
ArkansasRepublican10 1 20232027Tulane University2 terms maximum
CaliforniaDemocratic23 4 20212027Yale University2 terms maximum
ColoradoDemocratic8 1 20192027 New York University2 consecutive terms
ConnecticutDemocratic9 1 20192027University of Chicagono term limits
DelawareDemocratic1 1 20192027Villanova Universityno term limits
District of ColumbiaDemocratic2 1 20232027Harvard University
FloridaRepublican17 2 20252027Georgetown University2 consecutive terms
GeorgiaRepublican1 11 20162027University of Georgiano term limits
GuamRepublican2 1 20232027Santa Clara University
HawaiiDemocratic5 12 2022AppointedUniversity of Hawaii, Manoano term limits
IdahoRepublican2 1 20232027University of Washingtonno term limits
IllinoisDemocratic14 1 20192027Illinois Institute of Technologyno term limits
IndianaRepublican11 1 20212029Indiana University, Indianapolisno term limits
IowaRepublican3 1 20232027University of Chicagono term limits
KansasRepublican9 1 20232027Yale Universityno term limits
KentuckyRepublican01 01 20242028University of Kentucky2 consecutive terms
LouisianaRepublican8 1 20242028Louisiana State University
Pepperdine University 		no term limits
MaineDemocratic2 1 20192025 Roger Williams University4 two year terms
MarylandDemocratic3 1 20232027Harvard Universityno term limits
MassachusettsDemocratic18 1 20232027University of California, Los Angelesno term limits
MichiganDemocratic1 1 20192027 Wayne State University2 terms max
MinnesotaDemocratic 7 1 20192027University of Minnesota, Twin Citiesno term limits
MississippiRepublican9 1 20202028University of Mississippi, Oxfordno term limits
MissouriRepublican8 9 20252029Catholic University of Americano term limits
MontanaRepublican4 1 20212029University of Montana2 terms in 16-year period
NebraskaRepublican5 1 20232027University of Chicagono term limits
NevadaDemocratic7 1 20192027 Ohio State University, Columbus2 terms max
New HampshireRepublican22 4 20212025 George Washington Universityno term limits
New JerseyDemocratic14 2 2022AppointedStanford Universityno term limits
New MexicoDemocratic1 1 20232027Stanford University2 consecutive terms
New YorkDemocratic1 1 20192027Howard Universityno term limits
North CarolinaDemocratic1 1 20252029University of North Carolina, Chapel Hillno term limits
North DakotaRepublican9 2 20222027American Universityno term limits
Northern Mariana IslandsDemocratic13 1 20152027Gonzaga University
OhioRepublican14 1 20192027 Capital University2 consecutive terms
OklahomaRepublican9 1 20232027Georgetown University2 terms max
OregonDemocratic31 12 20242029Willamette Universityno term limits
PennsylvaniaRepublican21 1 20252029Widener University 2 consecutive terms
Puerto RicoNew Progressive27 5 2025AppointedPontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico
Rhode IslandDemocratic1 1 20192027 Boston College2 consecutive terms
South CarolinaRepublican12 1 20112027University of South Carolina, Columbiano term limits
South DakotaRepublican3 1 20232027University of South Dakota2 consecutive terms
TennesseeRepublican1 9 20222030 Harvard Universityno term limits
TexasRepublican5 1 2015
Suspended: May 27, 2023 – September 16, 2023		2027University of Notre Dameno term limits
U.S. Virgin IslandsNonpartisan29 4 2024AppointedStanford University
UtahRepublican6 1 20252029Pepperdine Universityno term limits
VermontDemocratic5 1 20232027Boston Collegeno term limits
VirginiaDemocratic17 1 20262030University of Virginiano term limits
WashingtonDemocratic15 1 20252029Harvard Universityno term limits
West VirginiaRepublican13 1 20252029West Virginia Universityno term limits
WisconsinDemocratic7 1 20192027Stanford Universityno term limits
WyomingRepublican7 7 2025AppointedUniversity of Wyomingno term limits