The Pennsylvania Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer of the
Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. It became an elected office in 1980. The current Attorney General is
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
Josh Shapiro
Joshua David Shapiro (born June 20, 1973) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the Pennsylvania Attorney General since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the governor-elect of Pennsylvania.
Raised in Montgomery ...
.
On August 15, 2016, then-Attorney General
Kathleen Kane
Kathleen Granahan Kane (born Kathleen Margaret Granahan; June 14, 1966) is an American former politician and lawyer who served as the 48th Attorney General of Pennsylvania from 2013 until her resignation in 2016 following her conviction for per ...
was convicted of criminal charges, including conspiracy, perjury, and obstruction of justice, and announced her resignation the following day, effective August 17. Consequently, as the
Solicitor General,
Bruce Castor
Bruce Lee Castor Jr. (born October 24, 1961) is an American lawyer and retired Republican Party (United States), Republican politician from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He was appointed as the first Solicitor General of Pennsylvania in March ...
assumed the office as Acting Attorney General. Governor
Tom Wolf
Thomas Westerman Wolf (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated Republican incumbent Tom Corbett in the 2014 guber ...
nominated
Bruce Beemer
Bruce Beemer (born December 14, 1968) is an American attorney and jurist serving as a judge on the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. He served as the 49th Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Attorney General, Attorney General from 2016 to 2017 and a ...
to serve out the remaining balance of Kane's term which expired in January 2017. Democrat
Josh Shapiro
Joshua David Shapiro (born June 20, 1973) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the Pennsylvania Attorney General since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the governor-elect of Pennsylvania.
Raised in Montgomery ...
succeeded Beemer. Following Shapiro's
2022 election as Governor, he will appoint his successor as Attorney General.
Authority and responsibilities
The Commonwealth Attorneys Act of 1980 established the Office of Attorney General as an independent office headed by an elected attorney general. The office has the responsibility for the prosecution of those crimes prosecuted by the commonwealth, including organized crime and public corruption, as well as civil
litigation
-
A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...
on behalf of some, but not all, commonwealth agencies and the civil enforcement of some commonwealth laws, including laws pertaining to consumer protection and charities. The attorney general represents the commonwealth in all actions brought by or against the commonwealth and reviews all proposed rules and regulations by commonwealth agencies.
The attorney general also serves as a member of the Board of Pardons, the joint Committee on Documents, the Hazardous Substances Transportation Board, the Board of Finance and Revenue, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, the Civil Disorder Commission and the Municipal Police Officers Education and Training Commission.
List of attorneys general
There have been four styles of selection of Pennsylvania Attorney General. The first phase was colonial, with the first attorney general commissioned in 1683. At the outbreak of the Revolution, the sitting attorney general, a loyalist, fled, and new attorneys general were appointed, under the Constitution of 1776, by the state president (or vice-president) with the
Supreme Executive Council. Under the new constitution of 1790, attorneys general were appointed by the governor, subject to approval by the legislature (similar to how the
United States Attorney General
The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
is appointed by the
president of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
). This remained in the Constitutions of 1838, 1874, and 1968. In 1978, voters approved an amendment to the
Pennsylvania Constitution
The Constitution of Pennsylvania is the supreme law within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. All acts of the General Assembly, the governor, and each governmental agency are subordinate to it. Since 1776, Pennsylvania's Constitution has undergone ...
making the office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General an elected position, effective as of the general election of 1980.
Note that before
William Penn
William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
, there were attorneys general for
New Sweden
New Sweden ( sv, Nya Sverige) was a Swedish colony along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now the United States from 1638 to 1655, established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a great military power. New Sweden form ...
as early as 1643.
Colonial attorneys general
Under the influence of
David Lloyd, who served 1686–1710, Pennsylvania developed its first judicial system.
Andrew Hamilton, who served 1717–1726, strongly influenced Pennsylvania law away from some aspects of the British system.
* John White
* Samuel Hersent
* John White
*
David Lloyd
* John Moore
* Robert Assheton
* Paromlus Parmyter
*
George Lowther
* Thomas Clarke
*
Robert Quarry
Robert Walter Quarry (November 3, 1925 – February 20, 2009) was an American actor, known for several prominent horror film roles.
Life and career
Quarry was born in Santa Rosa, California, the son of Mable (née Shoemaker) and Paul Quarry ...
* Henry Wilson
*
Andrew Hamilton
*
Joseph Growden Jr.
*
John Kinsey
*
Tench Francis Sr.
*
Benjamin Chew
Benjamin Chew (November 19, 1722 – January 20, 1810) was a fifth-generation American, a Quaker-born legal scholar, a prominent and successful Philadelphia lawyer, slaveowner, head of the Pennsylvania Judiciary System under both Colony and Com ...
*
Andrew Allen
President/Council appointed attorneys general
Attorneys general appointed between 1791 and 1920
Attorneys general appointed between 1920 and 1980
Occupants of the elected Pennsylvania Attorney General office (1981–present)
See also
*
Governor of Pennsylvania
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
*
Pennsylvania General Assembly
The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania ...
*
Pennsylvania Auditor General
The Pennsylvania auditor general is the chief fiscal officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It became an elected office in 1850. The current auditor general of Pennsylvania is Republican Timothy DeFoor.
History
The office of the auditor ...
*
Pennsylvania Treasurer
The Pennsylvania State Treasurer is the head of the Pennsylvania Treasury Department, an independent department of state government. The state treasurer is elected every four years. Treasurers are limited to two consecutive terms.
The Pennsylva ...
*
Pennsylvania State Capitol
The Pennsylvania State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Pennsylvania located in downtown Harrisburg which was designed by architect Joseph Miller Huston in 1902 and completed in 1906 in a Beaux-Arts style with decorative ...
References
External links
Pennsylvania Attorney Generalofficial website
Pennsylvania Attorney Generalarticles 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. ...
*
ttp://law.justia.com/codes/pennsylvania/ Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutesat Law.Justia.com
U.S. Supreme Court Opinions - "Cases with title containing: State of Pennsylvania"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. ...
Pennsylvania Bar AssociationPennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane profileat
National Association of Attorneys General
Press releasesat Pennsylvania Attorney General
{{Authority control
Lists of Pennsylvania politicians
1777 establishments in Pennsylvania