Florida Attorney General

Last updated
Attorney General of Florida
Office of the Attorney General, State of Florida official seal (cropped).png
Seal of the attorney general of Florida
Official portrait of Attorney General James Uthmeier, 2025 (cropped).jpg
Incumbent
James Uthmeier
since February 17, 2025
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
Formation1845
Website Official website OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

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.

Contents

The office is one of Florida's three elected state cabinet posts, along with the chief financial officer and agriculture commissioner. The office is held by James Uthmeier, who was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis following the resignation of Ashley Moody to become a United States Senator. [1]

Qualifications and Term of Office

Article IV, Section 4, of the Constitution of Florida establishes the cabinet and the position of the attorney general. As with other elected statewide offices in Florida, the attorney general is limited to serving two consecutive four-year terms. [2] The attorney general must meet the following qualifications to be eligible for the office:

The attorney general is second (behind the lieutenant governor) in the line of succession to the office of Governor of Florida. [3] [4]

Removal from office

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. [5]

Powers and duties

Title IV, Chapter 16 of the Florida statutes establish the general duties of the office. The general duties of the attorney general are as follows: [6]

The Florida solicitor general is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the attorney general. The current solicitor is Henry C. Whitaker. [7]

List of Florida attorneys general

Attorneys general by party affiliation
PartyAttorneys general
Democratic 27
Republican 11
Whig 1
#ImageNameTerm of servicePolitical party
1 Joseph Branch.jpg Joseph Branch 1845–1846Democratic
2 AugustusMaxwell.jpg Augustus Maxwell 1846–1848Democratic
3 James Tillinghast Archer.jpg James T. Archer 1848Democratic
4 David P. Hogue Florida Attorney General.png David P. Hogue 1848–1853Whig
5 MarianoPapy.jpg Mariano D. Papy 1853–1861Democratic
6 John B. Galbraith.jpg John B. Galbraith 1861–1868Democratic
7 James Westcott III.jpg James Westcott III 1868Democratic
8 A. R. Meek 1868–1870Republican
9 Sherman Conant 1870–1871Republican
10 J. B. C. Drew.png J. B. C. Drew 1871–1872Republican
11 HoratioBisbee.jpg Horatio Bisbee Jr. 1872Republican
12 J. P. C. Emmons 1872–1873Republican
13 William Archer Cocke.jpg William A. Cocke 1873–1877Democratic
14 GeorgePettusRaney.jpg George P. Raney 1877–1885Democratic
15 Charles Merian Cooper.jpg Charles Merian Cooper 1885–1889Democratic
16 WilliamBLamar.jpg William Bailey Lamar 1889–1903Democratic
17 Jbwhitfield.jpg James B. Whitfield 1903–1904Democratic
18 W. H. Ellis.jpg W. H. Ellis 1904–1909Democratic
19 ParkTrammell.jpg Park Trammell 1909–1913Democratic
20 ThomasFranklinWest.jpg Thomas F. West 1913–1917Democratic
21 VanCiceroSwearingen.jpg Van C. Swearingen 1917–1921Democratic
22 RiversHBuford.jpg Rivers Buford 1921–1925Democratic
23 J. B. Johnson.jpg J. B. Johnson 1925–1927Democratic
24 Fred Henry Davis.jpg Fred Henry Davis 1927–1931Democratic
25 Cary D Landis.jpg Cary D. Landis 1931–1938Democratic
26 George Couper Gibbs.jpg George Couper Gibbs 1938–1941Democratic
27 J. Thomas Watson.jpg J. Thomas Watson 1941–1949Democratic
28 Richard W Ervin.jpg Richard Ervin 1949–1964Democratic
29 James W Kynes.jpg James W. Kynes 1964–1965Democratic
30 Earl Faircloth.jpg Earl Faircloth 1965–1971Democratic
31 Robert L. Shevin (cropped).jpg Robert L. Shevin 1971–1979Democratic
32 Portrait of Attorney General Jim Smith - Tallahassee, Florida.jpg James C. Smith 1979–1987Democratic
33 Bob Butterworth (cropped).jpg Bob Butterworth 1987–2002Democratic
34 Richard Doran.jpg Richard E. Doran 2002–2003Republican
35 Charlie Crist official portrait crop.jpg Charlie Crist 2003–2007Republican
36 McCollum bio photo (cropped).jpg Bill McCollum 2007–2011Republican
37 Bondi bio photo crop.jpg Pam Bondi 2011–2019Republican
38 AttorneyGeneral AshleyMoody (cropped).jpg Ashley Moody 2019–2025Republican
--John Guard
Acting		2025Republican
39 Official portrait of Attorney General James Uthmeier, 2025 (cropped).jpg James Uthmeier 2025-presentRepublican

See also

References

  1. ↑ Caputo, Liv (2025-01-16). "DeSantis' Chief of Staff James Uthmeier to be the Next Florida Attorney General". The Floridian. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
  2. ↑ Fla. Const. art. VI, § 4
  3. ↑ "Constitution of Florida: Article IV, Section 3". Florida Legislature . Archived from the original on December 8, 2008. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Florida Statutes 14.055". Law Server. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  5. ↑ Fla. Const. art. III, § 17
  6. ↑ "FL Stat § 16.01 (2023)". Justia Law. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  7. ↑ "Florida Attorney General - Solicitor General". www.myfloridalegal.com. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
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