Maine Attorney General

Maine Attorney General
Incumbent Aaron Frey
First holder	Erastus Foote
Website	www.maine.gov/ag/

The Maine attorney general is the chief legal advisor and prosecutor of the state of Maine. The constitutional basis of the office is Article IX, Section 11 of the Maine Constitution, and the holder of the position is chosen biennially by the Maine Legislature in joint session. ^[1] Maine is the only state to select its attorney general in such a manner; ^[2] in 2023 a group of state Republicans called for the attorney general to be selected by popular vote, though no action was taken on the proposal. ^[3]

The powers of the attorney general are derived from the Maine Revised Statues Annotated, Title 5, Chapter 9. These include representing the state in civil actions, investigating and prosecuting homicides, advising district attorneys, and providing written opinions on matters of law at the request of the governor or the legislature. The attorney general is empowered to appoint deputy and assistant attorneys general, who serve at the attorney general's pleasure. ^[4]

List of Maine attorneys general

No.	Image	Name	Took office	Left office	Party
1		Erastus Foote	1820	1831	Democratic-Republican
2		Jonathan P. Rogers	1832	1833	Democratic
3		Nathan Clifford	1834	1837	Democratic
4		Daniel Goodenow	1838	1838	Democratic
5		Stephen Emery	1839	1840	Democratic
6		Daniel Goodenow	1841	1841	Democratic
7		Otis L. Bridges	1842	1843	Democratic
8		Wyman B. S. Moor	1844	1847	Democratic
9		Samuel H. Blake	1848	1848	Democratic
10		Henry Tallman	1849	1852	Democratic
11		George Evans	1853	1854	Whig
12		John S. Abbott	1855	1855	Republican
13		George Evans	1856	1856	Whig
14		Nathan D. Appleton	1857	1859
15		G.W. Ingersoll	1860	1860
16		Josiah Hayden Drummond	1860	1863	Republican
17		John A. Peters	1864	1866	Republican
18		William P. Frye	1867	1869	Republican
19		Thomas Brackett Reed	1870	1872	Republican
20		Harris M. Plaisted	1873	1875	Republican
21		Lucilius A. Emery	1876	1878	Republican
22		William H. McLellan	1879	1879	Democratic [5] [6]
23		Henry B. Cleaves	1880	1884	Republican
24		Orville D. Baker	1885	1888	Republican
25		Charles E. Littlefield	1889	1892	Republican
26		Frederick A. Powers	1893	1896	Republican
27		William T. Haines	1897	1900	Republican
28		George M. Seiders	1901	1904	Republican
29		Hannibal Emery Hamlin	1905	1908	Republican
30		Warren C. Philbrook	1909	1910	Republican
31		Cyrus R. Tupper	1911	1911	Democratic
32		William Robinson Pattangall	1911	1912	Democratic
33		Scott Wilson	1913	1914	Republican
34		William Robinson Pattangall	1915	1916	Democratic
35		Guy H. Sturgis	1917	1920	Republican
36		Ransford W. Shaw	1921	1924	Republican
37		Raymond Fellows	1925	1928	Republican
38		Clement F. Robinson	1929	1932	Republican
39		Clyde R. Chapman	1933	1936	Republican
40		Franz U. Burkett	1937	1940	Republican
41		Frank I. Cowan	1941	1944	Republican
42		Ralph W. Farris	1945	1950	Republican
43		Alexander A. LaFleur	1951	1954	Republican
44		Frank F. Harding	1955	1958	Republican
45		Frank E. Hancock	1959	1964	Republican
46		Richard J. Dubord	1965	1966	Democratic
47		James S. Erwin	1967	1971	Republican
48		Jon A. Lund	1972	1975	Republican
49		Joseph E. Brennan	1975	1979	Democratic
50		Richard S. Cohen	1979	1981	Republican
51		James E. Tierney	1981	1991	Democratic
52		Michael E. Carpenter	1991	1995	Democratic
53		Andrew Ketterer	1995	2001	Democratic
54		G. Steven Rowe	2001	2009	Democratic
55		Janet Mills	2009	2011	Democratic
56		William Schneider	2011	2013	Republican
57		Janet Mills	2013	2019	Democratic
58		Aaron Frey	2019	present	Democratic

References

1. "Maine State Constitution".
2. "Maine lawmaker says voters should pick constitutional officers". Bangor Daily News. April 15, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
3. "GOP pushes to have Mainers elect the attorney general, other top posts". spectrumlocalnews.com. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
4. "Office of the Maine AG: About Us: What We do".
5. Litchfield. History of Litchfield and an Account of Its Centennial Celebrations, 1895. Рипол Классик. ISBN   978-5-87689-016-0.
6. "The Political Graveyard: Maine Delegation to 1876 Democratic National Convention". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved 2020-04-22.

External links

• Maine Attorney General official website
• Maine Attorney General articles at ABA Journal
• News and Commentary at FindLaw
• Maine Revised Statutes at Law.Justia.com
• U.S. Supreme Court Opinions - "Cases with title containing: State of Maine" at FindLaw
• Maine State Bar Association
• Maine Attorney General Janet T. Mills profile at National Association of Attorneys General
• News and reports at Maine Attorney General