Ariel K. Smith is a U.S. Virgin Islands lawyer who served as the 19th
attorney general of the United States Virgin Islands The Attorney General of the United States Virgin Islands supervises and directs the Department of Justice. In 1962, the Virgin Islands Department of Law was established as an executive department in the Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands pursuant ...
from 2023 to 2024.
Early life and education
Smith was born on
Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Thomas ( da, Sankt Thomas) is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea which, together with Saint John, Water Island, Hassel Island, and Saint Croix, form a county-equivalent and constituent district of the United States Virgin ...
.
She graduated from
Charlotte Amalie High School.
She completed a J.D. from
Rutgers Law School.
Career
For over ten years, Smith worked in private practice as an associate attorney with Smock and Moorhead on Saint Thomas.
From 2006 to 2011, Smith was an assistant territorial public defender.
In this role, she worked in the criminal defense of misdemeanors and felony offenses such as domestic violence and white collar crimes.
In 2011, Smith joined the civil division of the
U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice as an assistant attorney general, serving role for seven years.
In 2016, she was promoted to chief of the civil division where she oversaw five attorneys and two support staff.
Attorney General of the Virgin Islands
On March 20, 2023, governor
Albert Bryan nominated Smith to succeed
Carol Thomas-Jacobs
Carol Thomas-Jacobs (1968/1969) is a judge on the United States Virgin Islands Superior Court. She was the acting Attorney General of the United States Virgin Islands in from January to April 2023.
Life
Thomas-Jacobs worked for the U.S. Virgin I ...
as the
attorney general of the United States Virgin Islands The Attorney General of the United States Virgin Islands supervises and directs the Department of Justice. In 1962, the Virgin Islands Department of Law was established as an executive department in the Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands pursuant ...
.
In May 2023,
Elon Musk was subpoenaed by the US Virgin Islands in part of a larger lawsuit against
JP Morgan's alleged ties to
Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking operations. The lawsuit was filed in the
US District Court in Manhattan by former US Virgin Islands Attorney General
Denise George
Denise N. George, also known as Denise George-Counts, is a U.S. Virgin Islands lawyer and former television news reporter who served as the Attorney General of the United States Virgin Islands. She completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in radio, te ...
, in 2022.
On June 30, 2023, Smith was sworn in as attorney general on a permanent basis during a ceremony at the
Governor's Mansion. Smith resigned on March 15, 2024.
See also
*
List of female state attorneys general in the United States
The following is a list of female attorneys general of states in the United States. Since 1959, there have been 34 states which have appointed or elected women as attorneys-general. Puerto Rico has had a record four women hold office as attorney ge ...
*
List of minority attorneys general in the United States
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Ariel M
21st-century American lawyers
21st-century American women lawyers
21st-century African-American women
21st-century African-American lawyers
American women lawyers
Living people
Place of birth missing (living people)
Rutgers Law School alumni
United States Virgin Islands lawyers
United States Virgin Islands women in politics
Year of birth missing (living people)
People from Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Attorneys general of the United States Virgin Islands