Attorney General of Virginia


The Attorney General of Virginia is an elected constitutional position that holds an executive office in the government of Virginia. Attorneys General are elected for a four-year term in the year following a presidential election. There are no term limits restricting the number of terms someone can serve as Attorney General.

Qualification

The position of Attorney General is established by Article V, Section 15 of the Constitution of Virginia, and they are elected for the same time and term as the Governor. To stand for Attorney General, a person must be at least thirty years old, be a citizen of the United States, and have the same qualifications required of a Virginia Circuit Court judge.

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:
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.

Stepping stone to higher office

Because it is one of only three statewide elected offices in the state government, 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, who is constitutionally barred from running for re-election. 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. A comparable intramural battle occurred in 2013, when social conservatives and Tea Party Virginians backed Ken Cuccinelli, with more moderate conservatives backing Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling. The Virginia Republican Party, led by backers of Cuccinelli, changed the nomination procedure from a statewide primary to a nomination by convention. Cuccinelli won the nomination in 2013. 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 statewide 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, 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. Similarly, in February 2009, then Attorney General Bob McDonnell resigned to focus primarily on his campaign for governor. Some Attorneys General have not resigned, including Marshall Coleman in 1981 and Ken Cuccinelli in 2013. 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.

List of Attorneys General

Attorneys General of colonial Virginia

Records of this period are sparse. The attorney general was appointed by the King, a combination of the governor and council, or the governor or acting governor. There was no term of office, and the office may have been vacant for extended periods.
NameTermNotes
Richard LeeOctober 12, 1643 - ?Appointed by Governor William Berkeley and Council
1652–1660Office apparently vacant during the Interregnum
Peter JeningsBefore June 25, 1670 - c. October 12, 1670Reappointed by Charles II of England on September 15, 1670
George JordanOctober 12, 1670 - at least October 3, 1672Appointed by Governor William Berkeley and Council
Robert BeverleyMarch 10, 1676 Appointed by Governor William Berkeley and Council
George JordanActing on May 20, 1677
William SherwoodEarly March 1677 - at least until November 25, 1678
Edmund Jenings1680 - before November 16, 1686
George BrentBefore November 16, 1686 - before May 1, 1688Acting
Edmund Jeningsc. May 1, 1688 - June 10, 1691
Edward ChiltonOctober 20, 1691 - April 1694Appointed by Governor Francis Nicholson. Resigned.
William RandolphApril 1694 - October 29, 1698Appointed by Governor Francis Nicholson. Resigned.
Bartholomew FowlerOctober 29, 1698 - September 4, 1700Appointed by Governor Francis Nicholson. Resigned.
Benjamin Harrison IIIOctober 17, 1700 - c. 1702Appointed by Governor Francis Nicholson and Council.
Stevens ThomsonMarch 2, 1704 - February 1714Privy Council approved appointment July 30, 1703. Died in office.
John Clayton1714 - November 18, 1737Appointed by Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood, given leave to England
John RandolphApril 22, 1726 - late 1727 or early 1728Appointed acting by Lieutenant Governor William Gooch in Clayton's absence
John Claytonlate 1727 or early 1728 - November 18, 1737Reappointed by royal warrant after February 29, 1728. Died in office
Edward BarradallActing between November 17 and 25, 1737 - June 19, 1743Appointed acting by Lieutenant Governor William Gooch, followed by warrant March 7, 1738, died in office
Thomas NelsonBetween June 19 and 27, 1743 - summer 1744Appointed acting by Lieutenant Governor William Gooch
Peyton RandolphMay 7, 1744 - sometime before January 29, 1754Office declared forfeit on June 20, 1754
Peyton RandolphMay 13, 1755 - sometime soon after November 22, 1766Resigned
George Wythec. January 29, 1754 - between January 20 and February 10, 1755Appointed acing by Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie
George Wythec. after November 22, 1766 - between June 4 and 11, 1767Appointed acing by Lieutenant Governor Francis Fauquier
John RandolphBetween June 4 and 11, 1767 to early September 1775 Fled Virginia in September 1775

Attorneys General, 1776–1857

From 1776 to 1851, the attorney general was elected by the General Assembly, or, in case of vacancy, appointed by the governor for an undefined term. The Virginia Constitution of 1851 introduced popular election and four-year terms. After the 1851 constitution, vacancies would be filled by the General Assembly, if they were in session, or by the governor.
NameTermPartyNotes
Edmund Randolphearly July 1776 - November 30, 1786Elected by convention
James InnesNovember 30, 1786 - November 13, 1796Resigned
John Marshallmid-October 1794 until late March 1795Acting
Robert Brookemid-November 1796–February 27, 1800Democratic-RepublicanDied in office
Philip Norborne NicholasMarch 15, 1800 – January 7, 1819Democratic-RepublicanAppointed by Governor James Monroe, elected by General Assembly, resigned
John RobertsonJanuary 21, 1819 – mid-October 1834DemocraticResigned
Sidney Smith BaxterDecember 11, 1834 – January 1, 1852Democratic
Willis Perry BocockJanuary 1, 1852 – May 15, 1857DemocraticResigned

Attorneys General during the Civil War and Reconstruction

Tucker served as the attorney general of Confederate Virginia throughout the Civil War. Wheat and Bowden served as the attorney generals for Restored Government of Virginia. From 1865 to 1870, the commanding general of the military district of Virginia appointed the office.
NameTermPartyNotes
John Randolph TuckerJune 13, 1857 – May 9, 1865DemocraticConfederate Attorney General throughout war. Left office when government abandoned Richmond.
James S. WheatJune 21, 1861 – December 7, 1863RepublicanElected at the Wheeling Convention and then in a May 1862 election for the Restored Government of Virginia in Wheeling.
Thomas Russell BowdenDecember 7, 1863 – August 1, 1869Unionist/RepublicanAttorney general for the Restored Government of Virginia in Wheeling, then Alexandria, after West Virginia separated, and in post-war Reconstruction Virginia.
Charles WhittleseySeptember 10, 1869 – January 19, 1870RepublicanAppointed and removed by Brigadier General Edward Richard Sprigg Canby
James Craig TaylorJanuary 19, 1870 - January 1, 1874Conservative Party of VirginiaAppointed by Brigadier General Canby after winning election

Attorneys General, 1874–present