The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and head of the Department of Law of the

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...

. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government of New Netherland. The attorney general of the State of New York is the highest-paid state attorney general in the country.

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 ...

Letitia James Letitia Ann James (born October 18, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician. She is a member of the Democratic Party and the current Attorney General of New York, having won the 2018 election to succeed appointed Attorney General Barbara Und ...

currently serves as attorney general, in office since January 1, 2019.

Functions

The attorney general advises the executive branch of state government and defends actions and proceedings on behalf of the state. The attorney general acts independently of the

governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has ...

. The department's regulations are compiled in title 13 of the '' New York Codes, Rules and Regulations'' (NYCRR).

Organization

The legal functions of the Department of Law are divided primarily into five major divisions: Appeals and Opinions, State Counsel, Criminal Justice, Economic Justice and Social Justice.

Chief deputy attorney general

* Harlan LevySchneiderman Fills Six Top Posts
''NY Law Journal.com'', 23 December 2010, Stashenko, J., Retrieved 1 November 2013. (2011–2015)

Solicitor general

* Ruth Kessler Toch (1966–1979) *

Shirley Adelson Siegel Shirley Adelson Siegel (July 3, 1918 – June 22, 2020) was an American lawyer whose work as a housing activist and advocate spanned over seven decades. Siegel was the first head of New York State’s Civil Rights Bureau and served as New York Stat ...

(1979–1982) * Robert Hermann (1983–1986) *

O. Peter Sherwood O is the fifteenth letter of the modern Latin alphabet. O may also refer to: Letters * Օ օ, (Unicode: U+0555, U+0585) a letter in the Armenian alphabet * Ο ο, Omicron, (Greek), a letter in the Greek alphabet * O (Cyrillic), a letter of the ...

(1986–1991) * Jerry Boone (1991–1994) *

Victoria A. Graffeo Victoria A. Graffeo (born 1952) is a former judge of the New York State's Court of Appeals. Judge Graffeo was appointed to the court by Republican Governor George Pataki in 2000 for a 14-year term. Governor Andrew Cuomo declined to appoint her t ...

(1995–1996) * Barbara Gott Billet (1996–1998)New York State Commissioner of Taxation and Finance Barbara G. Billet
, ''FreedomSpeaks.com'', Retrieved 1 November 2013. *

Preeta D. Bansal Preeta D. Bansal (born October 18, 1965) is an American lawyer who served as the General Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor to the federal Office of Management and Budget from 2009 until 2011. Prior to her work in the Obama administration, she ser ...

(1999–2001) *

Caitlin Halligan Caitlin Joan Halligan (born December 14, 1966) is a lawyer who is the former general counsel for the Manhattan district attorney's office. She served as Solicitor General for the state of New York from 2001 until 2007. President Barack Obama nomi ...

(2001–2007) *

Barbara D. Underwood Barbara Dale Underwood (born August 16, 1944) is an American lawyer currently serving as the Solicitor General of New York. She was first appointed to the position in January 2007 by Andrew Cuomo, who was then serving as the state's Attorney G ...

(2007–present)

Terms of office

* From 1684 to 1777, when New York was under the British colonial government, the attorney general was appointed by the

British crown The Crown is the state (polity), state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, British Overseas Territories, overseas territories, Provinces and territorie ...

, or the colonial governor on its behalf. In 1693, the attorney general earned a salary of 50 pounds. * From 1777 to 1822, the attorney general was appointed by the Council of Appointment. * From 1823 to 1846, the attorney general was elected by the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...

for a three-year term. * Attorneys general have been elected by the voters since 1847.

List of attorneys general of New York

Province of New York (1684–1776)

New York State (1777–present)

References

External links

*
Department of Law
in the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
New York 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. ...

New York Consolidated Laws
at Law.Justia.com
U.S. Supreme Court Opinions - "Cases with title containing: State of New York"
at

New York State Bar Association

Press releases
at New York Attorney General {{U.S. State Attorneys General 1626 establishments in the Dutch Empire