Attorney General of Florida | |
---|---|
Department of Legal Affairs | |
Style | The Honorable |
Type | Chief legal officer |
Member of | Florida Executive Branch Florida Cabinet |
Seat | Tallahassee, Florida |
Appointer | Popular vote |
Term length | Four years, renewable once |
Constituting instrument | Constitution of Florida |
Inaugural holder | Joseph Branch |
Formation | 1845 |
Website | http://myfloridalegal.com/ |
The Florida attorney general is an elected cabinet official in the U.S. state of Florida. The attorney general serves as the chief legal officer of the state, and is head of the Florida Department of Legal Affairs.
The office is one of Florida's three elected state cabinet posts, along with the chief financial officer and agriculture commissioner. The current attorney general is Republican Ashley Moody, who took office on January 8, 2019.
As with other elected statewide offices in Florida, the attorney general is limited to serving two consecutive four-year terms. [1]
The attorney general is second (behind the lieutenant governor) in the line of succession to the office of Governor of Florida. [2] [3]
The Florida attorney general can be impeached for committing a "misdemeanor in office" by the State House of Representatives, and then convicted and thereby removed from office by a two-thirds vote of the State Senate. [4]
The Florida solicitor general is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the attorney general. The current solicitor is Henry C. Whitaker. [5]
Party | Attorneys general | |
---|---|---|
Democratic | 27 | |
Republican | 10 | |
Whig | 1 |
# | Image | Name | Term of service | Political party |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Joseph Branch | 1845–1846 | Democratic | |
2 | Augustus Maxwell | 1846–1848 | Democratic | |
3 | James T. Archer | 1848 | Democratic | |
4 | David P. Hogue | 1848–1853 | Whig | |
5 | Mariano D. Papy | 1853–1861 | Democratic | |
6 | John B. Galbraith | 1861–1868 | Democratic | |
7 | James Westcott III | 1868 | Democratic | |
8 | A. R. Meek | 1868–1870 | Republican | |
9 | Sherman Conant | 1870–1871 | Republican | |
10 | J. B. C. Drew | 1871–1872 | Republican | |
11 | Horatio Bisbee Jr. | 1872 | Republican | |
12 | J. P. C. Emmons | 1872–1873 | Republican | |
13 | William A. Cocke | 1873–1877 | Democratic | |
14 | George P. Raney | 1877–1885 | Democratic | |
15 | Charles Merian Cooper | 1885–1889 | Democratic | |
16 | William Bailey Lamar | 1889–1903 | Democratic | |
17 | James B. Whitfield | 1903–1904 | Democratic | |
18 | W. H. Ellis | 1904–1909 | Democratic | |
19 | Park Trammell | 1909–1913 | Democratic | |
20 | Thomas F. West | 1913–1917 | Democratic | |
21 | Van C. Swearingen | 1917–1921 | Democratic | |
22 | Rivers Buford | 1921–1925 | Democratic | |
23 | J. B. Johnson | 1925–1927 | Democratic | |
24 | Fred Henry Davis | 1927–1931 | Democratic | |
25 | Cary D. Landis | 1931–1938 | Democratic | |
26 | George Couper Gibbs | 1938–1941 | Democratic | |
27 | J. Thomas Watson | 1941–1949 | Democratic | |
28 | Richard Ervin | 1949–1964 | Democratic | |
29 | James W. Kynes | 1964–1965 | Democratic | |
30 | Earl Faircloth | 1965–1971 | Democratic | |
31 | Robert L. Shevin | 1971–1979 | Democratic | |
32 | James C. Smith | 1979–1987 | Democratic | |
33 | Bob Butterworth | 1987–2002 | Democratic | |
34 | Richard E. Doran | 2002–2003 | Republican | |
35 | Charlie Crist | 2003–2007 | Republican | |
36 | Bill McCollum | 2007–2011 | Republican | |
37 | Pam Bondi | 2011–2019 | Republican | |
38 | Ashley Moody | 2019–present | Republican |
The Attorney General of Ireland is a constitutional officer who is the legal adviser to the Government and is therefore the chief law officer of the State. The attorney general is not a member of the Government but does participate in cabinet meetings when invited and attends government meetings. The current attorney general is Rossa Fanning, SC.
The Illinois attorney general is the highest legal officer of the state of Illinois in the United States. Originally an appointed office, it is now an office filled by statewide election. Based in Chicago and Springfield, the attorney general is responsible for providing legal counsel for the various state agencies including the governor of Illinois and Illinois General Assembly, as well as conducting all legal affairs pertaining to the state.
The government of Florida is established and operated according to the Constitution of Florida and is composed of three branches of government: the executive branch consisting of the governor of Florida and the other elected and appointed constitutional officers; the legislative branch, the Florida Legislature, consisting of the Senate and House; and the judicial branch consisting of the Supreme Court of Florida and lower courts. The state also allows direct participation of the electorate by initiative, referendum, and ratification.
The Florida Cabinet is a body of the government of Florida comprising the attorney general, the commissioner of agriculture, and the chief financial officer that engages in the collective governance of the state.
The chief financial officer of Florida is an elected statewide constitutional officer of Florida. The office was created in 2002 following the 1998 reforms of the Florida Cabinet. The CFO is a combination of the former offices of comptroller and treasurer/insurance commissioner/fire marshal. The office heads the Florida Department of Financial Services and is responsible for overseeing the state's finances, collecting revenue, paying state bills, auditing state agencies, regulating cemeteries and funerals, and handling fires and arsons. In addition, the CFO has administrative oversight over the offices which handles banking and insurance regulation. The CFO is a member of the Cabinet, and is third in the line of succession to the office of Governor of Florida.
The Supreme Court of Oklahoma is a court of appeal for non-criminal cases, one of the two highest judicial bodies in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and leads the judiciary of Oklahoma, the judicial branch of the government of Oklahoma.
The attorney general of Minnesota is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Thirty individuals have held the office of Attorney General since statehood. The incumbent is Keith Ellison, a DFLer.
The attorney general of Kentucky is an office created by the Kentucky Constitution. Under Kentucky law, they serve several roles, including the state's chief prosecutor, the state's chief law enforcement officer, and the state's chief law officer. As the chief prosecutor, the attorney general is the chairman of the Kentucky Prosecutors Advisory Council, which supervises the prosecutors of Kentucky. As chief law officer, they write opinions to advise government officials and agencies concerning the law.. The attorney general holds an ex officio seat on various Kentucky state boards and agencies.
The Arizona attorney general is the chief legal officer of the State of Arizona, in the United States. This state officer is the head of the Arizona Department of Law, more commonly known as the Arizona Attorney General's Office. The state attorney general is a constitutionally-established officer, elected by the people of the state to a four-year term. The state attorney general is second in the line of succession to the office of Governor of Arizona.
The attorney general of Oklahoma is the State Attorney General for the state of Oklahoma. The attorney general serves as the chief legal and law enforcement officer of the State of Oklahoma and head of the Office of the Oklahoma Attorney General. The attorney general is responsible for providing legal advice to the other departments and agencies of the executive branch, legislative branch and judicial branch of the state government. The attorney general is also responsible for the prosecution of offenses against Oklahoma law and advocate for the basic legal rights of Oklahoma residents.
The government of the U.S. State of Oklahoma, established by the Oklahoma Constitution, is a republican democracy modeled after the federal government of the United States. The state government has three branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial. Through a system of separation of powers or "checks and balances," each of these branches has some authority to act on its own, some authority to regulate the other two branches, and has some of its own authority, in turn, regulated by the other branches.
The Texas attorney general is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of Texas. The current officeholder, Republican Ken Paxton, has served in the position since January 5, 2015.
The attorney general of South Dakota is the state attorney general of the U.S. state of South Dakota. The attorney general is elected by popular vote to a four-year term and holds an executive position as the state's chief legal officer. In 1992, the voters approved a constitutional amendment to limit all constitutional officers and the governor to two consecutive four-year terms.
The government of Virginia combines the executive, legislative and judicial branches of authority in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The current governor of Virginia is Glenn Youngkin. The State Capitol building in Richmond was designed by Thomas Jefferson, and the cornerstone was laid by Governor Patrick Henry in 1785. Virginia currently functions under the 1971 Constitution of Virginia. It is Virginia's seventh constitution. Under the Constitution, the government is composed of three branches: the legislative, the executive and the judicial.
As established and defined by the Kentucky Constitution, the government of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is composed of three branches: the Executive, Judicial, and Legislative.
The government of Nevada comprises three branches of government: the executive branch consisting of the governor of Nevada and the governor's cabinet along with the other elected constitutional officers; the legislative branch consisting of the Nevada Legislature which includes the Assembly and the Senate; and the judicial branch consisting of the Supreme Court of Nevada and lower courts.
The Government of Tennessee is organized under the provisions of the 1870 Constitution of Tennessee, first adopted in 1796. As set forth by the state constitution, administrative influence in Tennessee is divided among three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial.
A resign-to-run law is a law that requires the current holder of an office to resign from that office before they can run for another office. This is distinct from a dual mandate prohibition, where a person has to resign from their old office to assume the new office, rather than to run for the new office. Resign-to-run laws exist in several jurisdictions, including five US states.
The attorney general of Washington is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of Washington and head of the Washington State Office of the Attorney General. The attorney general represents clients of the state and defends the public interest in accordance to state law. The office of the attorney general is an executive office elected by the citizens of Washington, and the officeholder serves a four-year term.