The basics
Every state (plus Washington DC and the US territories) has an Attorney General, who is the highest-ranking legal and law enforcement officer in the state. You can think of your AG as your state government’s top lawyer: they can represent the state when it’s brought to court or a state law is challenged, get involved in any state-level civil or criminal cases, start investigations of their own, and even file lawsuits against the federal government.
Usually an Attorney General’s office has several departments that are focused on fighting specific types of crime, like civil rights violations, fraud, human trafficking, or anything else the current state government wants to prioritize. As the state’s top legal expert, they often propose new policies, which can be passed into law by your state legislature if they have enough support. Your AG’s policy recommendations can impact anything from healthcare access, to the environment, to taxes and so much more.
One of an Attorney General’s most important powers is providing the state’s official legal opinions to agencies, officers, their state’s legislature, and other leaders in state government. This means they set the tone for your state’s entire criminal justice system - their opinions can impact your interactions with police, judges, courts, probation and corrections officers, and your local government. If you care about criminal justice issues, this is one of the most important elected offices to pay attention to!
Attorney Generals usually serve four-year terms. In most states, AGs are elected statewide (by all the state’s voters), but a few states and territories have a different process.
Source: the National Association of Attorneys General
What have Attorney Generals done?
AGs have a lot of power to influence not just your state, but the whole country through the lawsuits they file. Here are just a few examples of actions that have made a big impact:
- Mark Herring
Virginia
Asked the state's utility regulators to continue their ban on disconnecting utilities during the COVID pandemic, making sure Virginians could stay safely in their homes even if they were struggling to pay their bills - Dave Sunday
Pennsylvania
Filed criminal charges against an energy company for allegedly failing to properly maintain a natural gas well, resulting in air, water, and ground pollution throughout southern Pennsylvania and in several other states - Liz Murrill
Louisiana
Asked a federal court to stop the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s so-called “sanctuary city” policy of limiting cooperation with immigration authorities; the case could significantly impact non-citizens living in Orleans Parish and other cities with sanctuary policies
Ken Cuccinelli Virginia Sued the federal government to stop the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare), arguing that the government couldn't force anyone to buy health insurance; this was the first legal challenge to the ACA