The Attorney General of Alabama is an elected, constitutional officer of the State of

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. The office of the Attorney General is located at the state capitol in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

Henry Hitchcock Henry Hitchcock (September 11, 1792 – August 11, 1839) was the first Attorney General of Alabama, having been elected by the Alabama General Assembly in December 1819 in its initial session. He was also the Secretary of the Alabama Territor ...

was elected Alabama's first attorney general in 1819.

Duties

As is common in many states, the Attorney General is the chief

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

of the state. He is called upon as the chief defender of the laws of Alabama, the lawyer for state officials and represents the state in all matters brought before a court of law or tribunal. The Attorney General (AG) also provides advisory opinions to local and state governments when questions arise about the constitutionality of proposed laws and regulations. It is the task of the Attorney General to represent the state when questions arise concerning various criminal sentences including the death penalty. From time to time, the Attorney General may begin legal proceedings on behalf of the state or on behalf of consumers damaged by illegal or bad faith commercial transactions.

Organization

Eight divisions comprise the attorney general's office. Those divisions include: a General Crimes Division, a Public Corruption Division, Civil Division, Appellate Division, Consumer Protection Division, Constitutional Defense Division and a Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Division chiefs include Clay J. Crenshaw, Olivia Martin, Billington Garret, M. Matt Hart, Bruce M. Lieberman, and Azzie Taylor.

List of Attorneys General of Alabama

The Chief Deputy Attorney General is Alice Martin Andrew Brasher is the solicitor general

Living former attorneys general

, there are seven former Attorneys General of Alabama still alive, the oldest being

Bill Baxley William Joseph Baxley II (born June 27, 1941), is an American Democratic politician and attorney from Dothan, Alabama. In 1964, Baxley graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in Tuscaloosa. Having previously served as distric ...

(served 1971–1979, born 1941). The most recent Attorney General of Alabama to pass away was John M. Patterson (served 1955–1959) on June 4, 2021.

References

External links

Alabama Attorney General
official website

list of past officeholders at Alabama Department of Archives and History
Alabama Attorney General
articles at ''ABA Journal''

at

FindLaw FindLaw is a business of Thomson Reuters that provides online legal information and online marketing services for law firms. FindLaw was created by Stacy Stern, Martin Roscheisen, and Tim Stanley in 1995, and was acquired by Thomson West in 2001. ...

Code of Alabama
at Law.Justia.com
U.S. Supreme Court Opinions - "Cases with title containing: State of Alabama"
at

Alabama State Bar

Alabama Attorney General profile
at National Association of Attorneys General
Press releases
at Alabama Attorney General's office {{Alabama statewide elected officials 1819 establishments in Alabama