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.

Selection

The most prevalent method of selecting a state's attorney general is by popular election. 43 states have an elected attorney general.^[1] Elected attorneys general serve a four-year term, except in Vermont, where the term is two years.^[2]

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.^[1] The attorney general in Tennessee is appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court for an eight-year term.^[1]^[2] In Maine, the attorney general is elected by the state Legislature for a two-year term.^[1]^[2]

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.^[3] In Puerto Rico, the attorney general is officially called the secretary of justice, but is commonly known as the Puerto Rico attorney general.^[4]

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.^[5]

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 often decline to defend the state in federal lawsuits.^[6]

Current attorneys general

The current party composition of the state attorneys general is:

23 Democrats
27 Republicans

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.

Officeholder	State	Party	Assumed office	Term expires	Law school	Term limits
Steve Marshall	Alabama	Republican	February 10, 2017	2027 (term limits)	University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa	2 consecutive terms
Treg Taylor	Alaska	Republican	January 30, 2021	Appointed	Brigham Young University	no term limits
Fainu'ulelei Alailima-Utu	American Samoa	Nonpartisan	January 21, 2021	Appointed	University of California, Los Angeles
Kris Mayes	Arizona	Democratic	January 2, 2023	2027	Arizona State University, Tempe	2 consecutive terms
Tim Griffin	Arkansas	Republican	January 10, 2023	2027	Tulane University	2 terms maximum
Rob Bonta	California	Democratic	April 23, 2021	2027	Yale University	2 terms maximum
Phil Weiser	Colorado	Democratic	January 8, 2019	2027 (term limits)	New York University	2 consecutive terms
William Tong	Connecticut	Democratic	January 9, 2019	2027	University of Chicago	no term limits
Kathy Jennings	Delaware	Democratic	January 1, 2019	2027	Villanova University	no term limits
Brian Schwalb	District of Columbia	Democratic	January 2, 2023	2027	Harvard University
Ashley Moody	Florida	Republican	January 9, 2019	2027 (term limits)	University of Florida Stetson University (LLM)	2 consecutive terms
Chris Carr	Georgia	Republican	November 1, 2016	2027	University of Georgia	no term limits
Doug Moylan	Guam	Republican	January 2, 2023	2027	Santa Clara University
Anne Lopez	Hawaii	Democratic	December 5, 2022	Appointed	University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa	no term limits
Raúl Labrador	Idaho	Republican	January 2, 2023	2027	University of Washington, Seattle	no term limits
Kwame Raoul	Illinois	Democratic	January 14, 2019	2027	Illinois Institute of Technology	no term limits
Todd Rokita	Indiana	Republican	January 11, 2021	2025	Indiana University, Indianapolis	no term limits
Brenna Bird	Iowa	Republican	January 3, 2023	2027	University of Chicago	no term limits
Kris Kobach	Kansas	Republican	January 9, 2023	2027	Yale University	no term limits
Russell Coleman	Kentucky	Republican	January 1, 2024	2028	University of Kentucky	2 consecutive terms
Liz Murrill	Louisiana	Republican	January 8, 2024	2028	Louisiana State University	no term limits
Aaron Frey	Maine	Democratic	January 2, 2019	2025 (Elected by the Legislature)	Roger Williams University	4 two year terms
Anthony Brown	Maryland	Democratic	January 3, 2023	2027	Harvard University	no term limits
Andrea Campbell	Massachusetts	Democratic	January 18, 2023	2027	University of California, Los Angeles	no term limits
Dana Nessel	Michigan	Democratic	January 1, 2019	2027 (term limits)	Wayne State University	2 terms max
Keith Ellison	Minnesota	Democratic (DFL)	January 7, 2019	2027	University of Minnesota, Twin Cities	no term limits
Lynn Fitch	Mississippi	Republican	January 9, 2020	2028	University of Mississippi, Oxford	no term limits
Andrew Bailey	Missouri	Republican	January 3, 2023	2025	University of Missouri, Columbia	no term limits
Austin Knudsen	Montana	Republican	January 4, 2021	2025	University of Montana	2 terms in 16-year period
Mike Hilgers	Nebraska	Republican	January 5, 2023	2027	University of Chicago	no term limits
Aaron D. Ford	Nevada	Democratic	January 7, 2019	2027 (term limits)	Ohio State University, Columbus	2 terms max
John Formella	New Hampshire	Republican	April 22, 2021	2025 (appointed)	George Washington University	no term limits
Matt Platkin	New Jersey	Democratic	February 14, 2022	Appointed	Stanford University	no term limits
Raúl Torrez	New Mexico	Democratic	January 1, 2023	2027	Stanford University	2 consecutive terms
Letitia James	New York	Democratic	January 1, 2019	2027	Howard University	no term limits
Josh Stein	North Carolina	Democratic	January 1, 2017	2025 (running for Governor)	Harvard University	no term limits
Drew Wrigley	North Dakota	Republican	February 9, 2022	2027	American University	no term limits
Edward Manibusan	Northern Mariana Islands	Democratic	January 13, 2015	2027	Gonzaga University
Dave Yost	Ohio	Republican	January 14, 2019	2027 (term limits)	Capital University	2 consecutive terms
Gentner Drummond	Oklahoma	Republican	January 9, 2023	2027	Georgetown University	2 terms max
Ellen Rosenblum	Oregon	Democratic	June 29, 2012	2025 (retiring)	University of Oregon	no term limits
Michelle Henry	Pennsylvania	Democratic	January 17, 2023	2025	Widener University	2 consecutive terms
Domingo Emanuelli	Puerto Rico^[7]	New Progressive	January 2, 2021	Appointed	University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras
Peter Neronha	Rhode Island	Democratic	January 1, 2019	2027 (term limits)	Boston College	2 consecutive terms
Alan Wilson	South Carolina	Republican	January 12, 2011	2027	University of South Carolina, Columbia	no term limits
Marty Jackley	South Dakota	Republican	January 3, 2023	2027	University of South Dakota	2 consecutive terms
Jonathan Skrmetti	Tennessee	Republican	September 1, 2022	2030 (Elected by State Supreme Court)	Harvard University	no term limits
Ken Paxton	Texas	Republican	January 5, 2015 Suspended: May 27, 2023 – September 16, 2023	2027	University of Notre Dame	no term limits
Ian Clement Acting	U.S. Virgin Islands	Nonpartisan	March 15, 2024	Appointed	Southern Methodist University
Sean Reyes	Utah	Republican	December 30, 2013	2025	University of California, Berkeley	no term limits
Charity Clark	Vermont	Democratic	January 5, 2023	2025	Boston College	no term limits
Jason Miyares	Virginia	Republican	January 15, 2022	2026	College of William and Mary	no term limits
Bob Ferguson	Washington	Democratic	January 16, 2013	2025 (running for Governor)	New York University	no term limits
Patrick Morrisey	West Virginia	Republican	January 14, 2013	2025 (running for Governor)	Rutgers University, Newark	no term limits
Josh Kaul	Wisconsin	Democratic	January 7, 2019	2027	Stanford University	no term limits
Bridget Hill	Wyoming	Republican	January 7, 2019	Appointed	University of Wyoming	no term limits