The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states and 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.
The current party composition of the state Attorneys General are:
- 26 Democrats
- 24 Republicans
The composition for territories and districts are:
- 3 Democrats
- 1 Republican
- 1 Nonpartisan
- 1 New Progressive
Attorneys general are popularly elected in 43 states and in Guam. In Alaska, Hawaii, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Wyoming, as well as in the other territories, the attorney general is appointed by the governor, while the mayor makes the appointment in the District of Columbia. The attorneys general of Maine and of Tennessee are elected by the Maine Legislature and by the Tennessee Supreme Court respectively.
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Famous quotes containing the words state, attorney and/or general:
“While the system of holding people in hostage is as old as the oldest war, a fresher note is introduced when a tyrannic state is at war with its own subjects and may hold any citizen in hostage with no law to restrain it.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“I always was of opinion that the placing a youth to study with an attorney was rather a prejudice than a help.... The only help a youth wants is to be directed what books to read, and in what order to read them.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“We do not need to minimize the poverty of the ghetto or the suffering inflicted by whites on blacks in order to see that the increasingly dangerous and unpredictable conditions of middle- class life have given rise to similar strategies for survival. Indeed the attraction of black culture for disaffected whites suggests that black culture now speaks to a general condition.”
—Christopher Lasch (b. 1932)