State attorney general: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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==Selection==

The most prevalent method of selecting a state's attorney general is by popular election. 43 states have an elected attorney general.<ref name=Bangor>{{cite news|last1=Moretto|first1=Mario|title=LePage sheds light on plan to strip Legislature of power to elect attorney general, treasurer|url=http://bangordailynews.com/2015/01/23/politics/lepage-sheds-light-on-plan-to-strip-legislature-of-power-to-appoint-attorney-general-treasurer/|access-date=January 16, 2016|agency=Bangor Daily News|publisher=Bangor Publishing Company|date=January 23, 2015}}</ref> Elected attorneys general serve a four-year term, except in Vermont, where the term is two years.<ref name=NAAG2010>{{cite web|title=Elections for Attorney General to Take Place in 30 States|url=http://www.naag.org/publications/naagazette/volume-4-number-1/elections-for-attorneys-general-to-take-place-in-30-states.php|website=National Association of Attorneys General|publisher=[[National Association of Attorneys General]]|access-date=January 16, 2016|archive-date=August 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808040010/https://www.naag.org/publications/naagazette/volume-4-number-1/elections-for-attorneys-general-to-take-place-in-30-states.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Seven states do not popularly elect an attorney general. In Alaska, Hawaii, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Wyoming, the attorney general is aappointed gubernatorialby appointeethe governor.<ref name=Bangor /> The attorney general in Tennessee is appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court for an eight-year term.<ref name=Bangor /><ref name=NAAG2010 /> In Maine, the attorney general is elected by the state Legislature for a two-year term.<ref name=Bangor /><ref name=NAAG2010 />

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.<ref name=NAAG2014>{{cite web|title=2014 State and Territorial Attorneys General Election Results|url=http://www.naag.org/publications/naagazette/volume-4-number-1/elections-for-attorneys-general-to-take-place-in-30-states.php|website=National Association of Attorneys General|publisher=National Association of Attorneys General|access-date=January 16, 2016|archive-date=August 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808040010/https://www.naag.org/publications/naagazette/volume-4-number-1/elections-for-attorneys-general-to-take-place-in-30-states.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> In Puerto Rico, the attorney general is officially called the secretary of justice, but is commonly known as the Puerto Rico attorney general.<ref>{{cite web|title=AG Spotlight: New Attorneys General|url=http://www.naag.org/publications/naagazette/volume-8-number-1/ag-spotlight-new-attorneys-general.php|website=National Association of Attorneys General|publisher=National Association of Attorneys General|access-date=January 16, 2016|archive-date=October 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025054753/http://www.naag.org/publications/naagazette/volume-8-number-1/ag-spotlight-new-attorneys-general.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Many states have passed term limits limiting the selection to 2 consecutive terms (9 states); 2 terms maximum (4 states), but 33 states still have no term limits.<ref>{{cite web|title=Attorneys General with term limits|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Attorneys_General_with_term_limits|publisher=Ballotpedia|access-date=August 29, 2019}}</ref>

==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 oftenmay decline to defend thea state law in federal lawsuitspreemption case.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Phillips |first1=Amber |title=Is it legal for North Carolina's attorney general to not defend the state's bathroom law? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/05/15/is-it-legal-for-north-carolinas-attorney-general-to-not-defend-the-states-bathroom-law-probably/?noredirect=on |access-date=November 10, 2018 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=May 15, 2016}}</ref>

==Current attorneys general==

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2017|2|10}}

|2027 (term limits)

|[[University of Alabama School of Law|University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa]]

|2 consecutive terms

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2021|1|30}}

|Appointed

|[[J. Reuben Clark Law School|Brigham Young University]]

|no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2021|1|21}}

|Appointed

|[[UCLA School of Law|University of California, Los Angeles]]

|

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2023|1|2}}

|2027

|[[SandraArizona DayState O'ConnorUniversity CollegeTempe of Lawcampus|Arizona State University, Tempe]]

|2 consecutive terms

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2023|1|10}}

|2027

|[[Tulane University Law School|Tulane University]]

| 2 terms maximum

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2021|4|23}}

|2027

|[[Yale Law School|Yale University]]

|2 terms maximum

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2019|1|8}}

|2027 (term limits)

|[[New York University School of Law|New York University]]

| 2 consecutive terms

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2019|1|9}}

|2027

|[[University of Chicago Law School|University of Chicago]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2019|1|1}}

|2027

|[[Villanova University School of Law|Villanova University]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2023|1|2}}

|2027

|[[Harvard Law School|Harvard University]]

|

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2019|1|9}}

|2027 (term limits)

|[[Fredric G. Levin College of Law|University of Florida]]<br>[[Stetson University College of Law|Stetson University]] {{small|([[Master of Laws|LLM]])}}

| 2 consecutive terms

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2016|11|1}}

|2027

|[[University of Georgia School of Law|University of Georgia]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2023|1|2}}

|2027

|[[Santa Clara University School of Law|Santa Clara University]]

|

|-

|{{sortname|Anne|Lopez|Anne E. Lopez}}<br>Acting

|[[Attorney General of Hawaii|Hawaii]]

|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]

|{{dts|format=mdy|2022|12|5}}

|Appointed

|[[WilliamUniversity S.of RichardsonHawaiʻi School ofat LawMānoa|University of Hawaii, Manoa]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2023|1|2}}

|2027

|[[University of Washington School of Law|University of Washington, Seattle]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2019|1|14}}

|2027

|[[Chicago-Kent College of Law|Illinois Institute of Technology]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2021|1|11}}

|2025

|[[Indiana University–Purdue University Robert H. McKinney School of LawIndianapolis|Indiana University, Indianapolis]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2023|1|3}}

|2027

|[[University of Chicago Law School|University of Chicago]]

| no term limits

|-

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| no term limits

|-

| {{sortname|DanielRussell|Cameron|dab=American politicianColeman}}

|[[Attorney General of Kentucky|Kentucky]]

|{{Party shading/Republican}} |[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]

|{{dts|format=mdy|20192024|1201|1701}}

|2028

|2024 (retiring)

|[[University of Louisville School of Law|University of LouisvilleKentucky]]

| 2 consecutive terms

|-

|{{sortname|JeffLiz|LandryMurrill}}

|[[List of Attorneys General of Louisiana|Louisiana]]

|{{Party shading/Republican}} |[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]

|{{dts|format=mdy|20162024|1|118}}

|2028

|2024 (retiring)

|[[Louisiana State University]]<br>[[Pepperdine University]] {{small|([[Master of Laws|LLM]])}}

|[[Loyola University New Orleans College of Law|Loyola University, New Orleans]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2019|1|2}}

|2025 (Elected by the Legislature)

|[[Roger Williams University School of Law|Roger Williams University]]

| 4 two year terms

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2023|1|3}}

|2027

|[[Harvard Law School|Harvard University]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2023|1|18}}

|2027

|[[UCLA School of Law|University of California, Los Angeles]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2019|1|1}}

|2027 (term limits)

|[[Wayne State University Law School|Wayne State University]]

| 2 terms max

|-

|{{sortname|Keith|Ellison}}

|[[Minnesota Attorney General|Minnesota]]

|{{Party shading/DemocraticDFL}} |[[DemocraticMinnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party|Democratic (United StatesDFL)|Democratic]]

|{{dts|format=mdy|2019|1|7}}

|2027

|[[University of Minnesota Law School|University of Minnesota, Twin Cities]]

|no term limits

|-

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|{{Party shading/Republican}} |[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]

|{{dts|format=mdy|2020|1|9}}

|20242028

|[[University of Mississippi School of Law|University of Mississippi, Oxford]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2023|1|3}}

|2025

|[[University of Missouri School of Law|University of Missouri, Columbia]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2021|1|4}}

|2025

|[[Alexander Blewett III School of Law|University of Montana]]

| 2 terms in 16-year period

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2023|1|5}}

|2027

|[[University of Chicago Law School|University of Chicago]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2019|1|7}}

|2027 (term limits)

|[[Ohio State University Moritz College of Law|Ohio State University, Columbus]]

| 2 terms max

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2021|4|22}}

|2025 (appointed)

|[[George Washington University Law School|George Washington University]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2022|2|14}}

|Appointed

|[[Stanford Law School|Stanford University]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2023|1|1}}

|2027

|[[Stanford Law School|Stanford University]]

| 2 consecutive terms

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2019|1|1}}

|2027

|[[Howard University School of Law|Howard University]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]

|{{dts|format=mdy|2017|1|1}}

|2025 (running for Governor)

|2025

|[[Harvard Law School|Harvard University]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2022|2|9}}

|2027

|[[Washington College of Law|American University]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2015|1|13}}

|2027

|[[Gonzaga University School of Law|Gonzaga University]]

|

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2019|1|14}}

|2027 (term limits)

|[[Capital University Law School|Capital University]]

| 2 consecutive terms

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2023|1|9}}

|2027

|[[Georgetown University Law Center|Georgetown University]]

| 2 terms max

|-

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|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]

|{{dts|format=mdy|2012|6|29}}

|2025 (retiring)

|[[University of Oregon School of Law|University of Oregon]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2023|1|17}}

|2025

|[[Widener University Commonwealth Law School|Widener University]]

| 2 consecutive terms

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2021|1|2}}

|Appointed

|[[University of Puerto Rico, SchoolRío ofPiedras LawCampus|University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras]]

|

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2019|1|1}}

|2027 (term limits)

|[[Boston College Law School|Boston College]]

| 2 consecutive terms

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2011|1|12}}

|2027

|[[University of South Carolina School of Law|University of South Carolina, Columbia]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2023|1|3}}

|2027

|[[University of South Dakota School of Law|University of South Dakota]]

| 2 consecutive terms

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2022|9|1}}

|2030 (Elected by State Supreme Court)

|[[Harvard Law School|Harvard University]]

| no term limits

|-

|{{sortname|Ken|Paxton}}

|{{sortname|John|Scott|John B. Scott (Texas politician)}}<br>{{small|Acting}}

|[[Texas Attorney General|Texas]]

|{{Party shading/Republican}} |[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]

|{{dts|format=mdy|20232015|1|5}}<br>{{small|31Suspended: May 27, 2023 – September 16, 2023}}

|2027

|[[South Texas CollegeUniversity of LawNotre HoustonDame]]

|no term limits

|-

|{{sortname|ArielGordon|SmithRhea|ArielGordon KC. Smith}}<br>{{small|ActingRhea}}

|[[United States Virgin Islands|U.S. Virgin Islands]]

|{{Party shading/DemocraticNonpartisan}} |[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]Nonpartisan

|{{dts|format=mdy|20232024|4|1429}}

|Appointed

|[[Rutgers Law School|RutgersStanford University, Newark]]

|

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2013|12|30}}

|2025

|[[UC Berkeley School of Law|University of California, Berkeley]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2023|1|5}}

|2025

|[[Boston College Law School|Boston College]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2022|1|15}}

|2026

|[[William & Mary Law School|College of William and Mary]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]

|{{dts|format=mdy|2013|1|16}}

|2025 (running for Governor)

|2025

|[[New York University School of Law|New York University]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{Party shading/Republican}} |[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]

|{{dts|format=mdy|2013|1|14}}

|2025 (running for Governor)

|2025

|[[Rutgers School of Law–NewarkUniversity–Newark|Rutgers University, Newark]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2019|1|7}}

|2027

|[[Stanford Law School|Stanford University]]

| no term limits

|-

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|{{dts|format=mdy|2019|1|7}}

|Appointed

|[[University of Wyoming College of Law|University of Wyoming]]

| no term limits

|}