Texas Attorney General

Last updated

Attorney General of Texas
Seal of Texas Attorney General.svg
Ken Paxton by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Incumbent
Ken Paxton
since January 5, 2015
Suspended: May 27, 2023 – September 16, 2023
Style The Honorable
Term length Four years, no term limits
Inaugural holder Volney E. Howard
Formation Texas Constitution
Salary$153,750
Website Official website OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The Texas attorney general is the chief legal officer [1] of the U.S. state of Texas. The current officeholder, Republican Ken Paxton, has served in the position since January 5, 2015.

Contents

History

The William P. Clements State Office Building houses some of the Office of the Attorney General. ClementsWilliamStateOfficeBuilding.JPG
The William P. Clements State Office Building houses some of the Office of the Attorney General.

The Office of the Attorney General was first established by executive ordinance of the Republic of Texas government in 1836. The attorneys general of the Republic of Texas and the first four attorneys general under the 1845 state constitution were appointed by the governor. The office was made elective in 1850 by constitutional amendment.

The attorney general is elected to a four-year term. In 2013, former Attorney General Greg Abbott announced he would not seek reelection and would run for governor. In November 2014, he was elected as the governor of Texas. Ken Paxton defeated former House Representative Dan Branch in the Republican primary by a 26% margin and was elected easily in the general election as the 50th attorney general of Texas, [2] (there is a historical dispute whether he is the 50th or 51st attorney general). [3] Paxton was sworn in on January 5, 2015, in the Senate Chamber in the Texas Capitol. Governor Rick Perry, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, United States Senator Ted Cruz, and Lieutenant Governor-Elect Dan Patrick all participated in the swearing-in ceremony. [4]

Duties and responsibilities

The attorney general is charged by the state constitution to represent the state in civil litigation [1] and approve public bond issues. [5] There are nearly 2,000 references to the Office of the Attorney General in state laws.

The Office of the Attorney General serves as legal counsel to all boards and agencies of state government, issues legal opinions when requested by the governor, heads of state agencies and other officials and commissions, and defends challenges to state laws and suits against both state agencies and individual employees of the state. These duties include representing the Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in appeals from criminal convictions in federal courts.

The Texas Constitution gives the attorney general no general law-enforcement powers; instead it limits the attorney general's authority in criminal cases to that dictated by statute. [1] The Texas Legislature has not given the attorney general broad law-enforcement authority, but permits the attorney general to act in criminal cases at the request of prosecutors. [6]

The Office of the Attorney General, Law Enforcement Division [7] conducts criminal investigations and apprehensions including cases involving cyber-crimes such as child pornography, online solicitation of minors, identity theft, election fraud, locating and apprehending convicted sex offenders who have failed to comply with mandated sex offender registration requirements, and conducting digital forensics investigations. The Office of the Attorney General also operates the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit which investigates criminal fraud by Medicaid providers, abuse and neglect of patients in health care facilities operated by the Medicaid program, and helps local and federal authorities with prosecutions.

Its child support division is responsible for the establishment and enforcement of child support. [7]

Officeholders

Attorneys general by party affiliation
PartyAttorneys general
Democratic 44
Republican 4
Unionist 2
Attorneys general in chronological order, showing party affiliation
No.ImageNameTerm of servicePolitical party
1 VolneyHoward.jpg Volney Howard 1846Democratic
2 John W. Harris 1846–1849Democratic
3 Henry Percy Brewster 1849–1850Democratic
4 Andrew Jackson Hamilton.jpg Andrew Jackson Hamilton 1850Democratic
5 Ebenezer Allen 1 1850–1852Democratic
6 Thomas J. Jennings 1852–1856Democratic
7 Willie James.jpg James Willie 1856–1858Democratic
8 Malcolm D. Graham 1858–1860Democratic
9 George M. Flournoy 1860–1862Democratic
10 Nathan G. Shelley 1862–1864Democratic
11 Benjamin E. Tarver 1864–1865Democratic
12 William Alexander 1865–1866Unionist
13 William M Walton.jpg William M. Walton 1866–1867Democratic
14 Ezekiel B. Turner 1867–1870Unionist
15 William Alexander 1870–1874Republican
16 George W. Clark 1874–1876Democratic
17 Hannibal Boone 1876–1878Democratic
18 George McCormick 1878–1880Democratic
19 James H. McLeary 1880–1882Democratic
20 John D. Templeton 1882–1886Democratic
21 Jim hogg2.jpg Jim Hogg 1886–1890Democratic
22 Charles Allen Culberson.jpg Charles Allen Culberson 1890–1894Democratic
23 Martin McNulty Crane.jpg Martin McNulty Crane 1894–1898Democratic
24 Thomas Slater Smith 1898–1901Democratic
25 Charles K. Bell.jpeg Charles K. Bell 1901–1904Democratic
26 Hornaday 1975 1119 (15851086386).jpg Robert V. Davidson 1904–1910Democratic
27 Jewel P. Lightfoot 1910–1912Democratic
28 James D. Walthall 1912–1913Democratic
29 Hornaday 1975 2018 (15869821221).jpg B. F. Looney 1913–1919Democratic
30 Calvin Maples Cureton 1919–1921Democratic
31 Walter Angus Keeling 1921–1925Democratic
32 DanMoody.jpg Dan Moody 1925–1927Democratic
33 Claude Pollard 2 1927–1929Democratic
34 Robert L. Bobbitt 3 1929–1931Democratic
35 James Allred.png James V. Allred 1931–1935Democratic
36 William McCraw 1935–1939Democratic
37 Gerald C Mann.jpg Gerald Mann 1939–1943Democratic
38 Grover Sellers 1943–1947Democratic
39 Price Daniel.jpg Price Daniel 1947–1953Democratic
40 John Ben Shepperd 1953–1957Democratic
41 Will Wilson.jpg Will Wilson 1957–1963Democratic
42 Waggoner Carr.jpg Waggoner Carr 1963–1967Democratic
43 Crawford Martin 1967–1972Democratic
44 John Hill 1973–1979Democratic
45 Governor Mark White.jpg Mark White 1979–1983Democratic
46 Jim Mattox.jpg Jim Mattox 1983–1991Democratic
47 Dan Morales 1991–1999Democratic
48 John Cornyn official portrait.jpg John Cornyn 1999–2002Republican
49 Greg Abbott crop.jpg Greg Abbott 2002–2015Republican
50 Ken Paxton by Gage Skidmore.jpg Ken Paxton 2015–present
Suspended May 27, 2023 – September 16, 2023
Republican
Brent Webster
Acting
May 27, 2023 – May 31, 2023
Served during the suspension of Ken Paxton
Republican
John Scott
Interim
May 31, 2023 – July 14, 2023
Served during the suspension of Ken Paxton
Republican
Angela Colmenero
Interim
July 14, 2023 – September 16, 2023
Served during the suspension of Ken Paxton
Republican

Political prominence

Many leading political figures in Texas history have served as attorney general, several of them using the office as a jumping-off place to other offices in the state and national government. Attorneys general James S. Hogg, Charles A. Culberson, Dan Moody, James V. Allred, Price Daniel, Mark White, and Greg Abbott were elected governor. Culberson, Daniel, and John Cornyn were later elected to the United States Senate. [8]

Notes

  1. First elected attorney general (AG) of state of Texas; previously elected AG of the Republic of Texas
  2. Resigned
  3. Appointed

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Texas Constitution Article 4 Section 22.
  2. Texas attorney general election, 2014, Ballotpedia.
  3. Jeffers, Gromer Jr. (May 27, 2014). "Dan Branch concedes Republican attorney general's race to Ken Paxton". The Dallas Morning News . Archived from the original on September 7, 2014.
  4. Barnett, Marissa (January 2015). "Ken Paxton vows to continue Abbott's federal fights as attorney general". The Dallas Morning News . Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  5. Texas Constitution Article 3 Section 49.
  6. Texas Government Code section 402.028.
  7. 1 2 "All Divisions | Office of the Attorney General".
  8. Attorney General from the Handbook of Texas Online