Attorney General of Virginia

The Attorney General of Virginia is an executive office in the Government of Virginia. The position is considered the third highest of the three state government offices elected statewide. Attorneys General are elected for a four-year term in the year following a presidential election (2001, 2005, 2009, etc.). There are no term limits restricting the number of terms someone can serve as Attorney General. [ [http://www.nga.org/files/pdf/BOS4-9.pdf "Constitutional and Statutory Provisions For Number of Consecutive Terms of Elected State Officials"] , National Governors Association. Retrieved on 2008-05-21.] Bob McDonnell currently holds the position. McDonnell ran for the office in a November 2005 election against Democrat Creigh Deeds. Though the election was November 8, 2005, the results showed McDonnell had won by less than 400 votes out of 1.95 million cast. The close vote triggered an automatic recount, which took place on December 20. The recount simply revealed 37 more votes for McDonnell, confirming him as the Attorney General-Elect. [Berg-Andersson, Richard E. [http://www.thegreenpapers.com/G05/VA.phtml"Virginia 2005 Off-Year Elections"] , "The Green Papers", 2008-03-10. Retrieved on 2008-05-21.]

Responsibilities

The Attorney General heads the Office of the Attorney General, also known as the Department of Law. The Attorney General and their Office have several duties and powers granted by state law. These include:
*Providing legal advice and representation in court for the Governor and the state government in general
*Providing legal advice, official opinions, to members of the Virginia General Assembly and local government officials
*Defending the state in cases of criminal appeals and suits against the state
*Defending the constitutionality of state laws
*Collecting money owed to various state institutions

In order to fulfill these responsibilities, the Attorney General oversees one of the largest law firms in Virginia. The full time staff includes a chief deputy attorney general, five deputy attorneys general and about 150 assistant attorneys general, 40 additional full time lawyers appointed as special counsel to particular agencies, and 140 legal assistants, legal secretaries and other professional support staff. The Office of the Attorney General is structured very much like a private law firm, with sections devoted to legal specialties.

The Attorney General is second in the line of gubernatorial succession. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Governor of Virginia, the Governor is replaced by the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. However, if there is also a vacancy in the office of Lieutenant Governor, then the Attorney General becomes Governor.

tepping stone to higher office

Because it is one of only three statewide elected offices, the post of Attorney General is seen as a stepping-stone to higher office, especially Governor of Virginia. Along with the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, the Attorney General is seen as one of two candidates in contention to replace the sitting Governor. Following the 2001 election of Governor Mark Warner, it was widely believed that the 2005 election would be between then-Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine and then-Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, which is precisely what occurred, with Kaine winning and becoming Virginia's 70th Governor. A similar scenario occurred in 1981, when then-Lieutenant Governor Chuck Robb defeated then-Attorney General Marshall Coleman and again in 1997 when then-Attorney General Jim Gilmore defeated then-Lieutenant Governor Don Beyer.

When separate parties capture the Attorney General and Lieutenant Governor's offices, these officeholders are seen as the clear frontrunners for their parties' nominations in the next gubernatorial election. When the same party captures both offices, intraparty rivalries and rifts can develop around which person should be the next gubernatorial nominee. For example, in 2001 there was a bitter intraparty battle in the Republican party between Attorney General Mark Earley, who was strongly backed by social conservatives, and Lieutenant Governor John H. Hager, who was backed by other factions of the party. Earley prevailed, but Hager and many of his supporters gave only perfunctory endorsements of Earley or openly supported the successful Democratic nominee Mark Warner. When one party captures neither office, it is left without a frontrunner for the next gubernatorial election. However, this allowed two of the most popular recent governors, Warner and George Allen, to win their parties' nominations and the subsequent elections without having held state-wide office.

It is a Virginia tradition that Attorneys General who are running for Governor resign from office before the conclusion of the four-year term for which they are elected. This has provided political fodder for their opponents, with Mark Earley criticized early in 2001 for not resigning (though he would resign in June of that year), with critics saying he could not campaign and serve effectively as Attorney General simultaneously, while Jerry Kilgore was criticized for resigning when he did so in February 2005, with critics saying he was abandoning his responsibilities to campaign. Some Attorneys General have not resigned, including Marshall Coleman in 1981. When an Attorney General resigns, it is the responsibility of the Virginia General Assembly to elect a replacement to finish the term of office. Often the Chief Deputy Attorney General is chosen, as in the case of Judith Jagdmann. The Lieutenant Governor is not expected to resign as the official duties of the office are very limited.

Recent Attorneys General

*Abram Penn Staples (Democrat) - March 1934 – October 1947 (resigned to become judge of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals)
*Harvey Black Apperson (Democrat) - October 1947 – February 1948 (appointed by governor to replace Staples; died in office)
*James Lindsay Almond (Democrat) - February 1948 – September 1947 (resigned to run for governor)
*Kenneth Cartwright Patty (Democrat) - September 1957 – January 1958 (appointed by governor to replace Almond)
*Albertis Sydney Harrison (Democrat) - January 1958 – April 1961 (resigned to run for governor)
*Frederick Thomas Gray (Democrat) - May 1961 – January 1962 (appointed by governor to replace Harrison)
*Robert Young Button (Democrat) - January 1962 – January 1970
*Andrew Pickens Miller (Democrat) - January 1970 – January 1977
*Anthony Francis Troy (Democrat) - January 1977 – January 1978
*J. Marshall Coleman (Republican) - January 1978 – January 1982
*Gerald Baliles (Democrat) January 1982 – June 30, 1985
*William Broaddus - 1985–1986 (replaced Gerald Baliles)
*Mary Sue Terry (Democrat) - 1986 – January 1993 (resigned to run for governor)
*Stephen D. Rosenthal 1993 – 1994 (replaced Terry)
*James S. Gilmore, III (Republican) - 1994 – June 11, 1997 (resigned to run for governor)
*Richard Cullen - June 11, 1997 – January 17, 1998 (replaced Gilmore)
*Mark Earley (Republican) - January 17, 1998 – June 4, 2001 (resigned to run for governor)
*Randolph A. Beales - July 11, 2001 – January 12, 2002 (replaced Earley)
*Jerry W. Kilgore (Republican) - January 12, 2002 – February 1, 2005 (resigned to run for governor)
*Judith Jagdmann - February 1, 2005 – January 14, 2006 (replaced Kilgore)
*Robert F. McDonnell (Republican) - January 14, 2006 –

References

External links

* [http://www.oag.state.va.us/ Office of the Attorney General of Virginia]