List of attorneys general of West Virginia

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Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Template:History of West Virginia The attorney general of West Virginia is the chief legal advisor to the West Virginia state government and is the state's chief law enforcement officer. The office was created by Article VII, Section 1 of the first Constitution of West Virginia in 1863.[1][2] Under the current state constitution (1872), the attorney general is an executive department-level state constitutional officer, along with the governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, and commissioner of agriculture.[3] The attorney general is the ex officio reporter of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.[3] The constitution further specifies that the attorney general shall reside in the seat of state government, Charleston, during their term of office.[3] In Charleston, they are to maintain public records, books, and papers pertaining to their office, and perform all duties prescribed by state law.[3] since 2012,Template:Dated maintenance category (articles)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". the attorney general receives a salary of $95,000 per year.[1]

The attorney general gives their written opinions and advice upon questions of law to state officials, heads of state institutions, and prosecuting attorneys.[1] They are also responsible for all litigation on behalf of the state government and state agencies and departments.[1] The attorney general represents the state in all claims processed by the United States Court of Claims, prosecutes civil actions as prescribed by law, enforces the state consumer, antitrust, and preneed burial statutes, and enforces the West Virginia Human Rights Act and the West Virginia Fair Housing Act.[1] The attorney general is also an ex officio member of the Board of Public Works, Council of Finance and Administration, Public Land Corporation, West Virginia Housing Fund, West Virginia Sheriff's Bureau, Department of Public Safety Retirement Board, Bid Suspension Review Board, State Building Commission, Commission on Charitable Contributions, Women's Commission, Multistate Tax Compact Advisory Committee, Records Management, and Preservation Advisory Committee.[1]

To be eligible for election or appointment to the position, the attorney general candidate must be at least 25 years of age at the beginning of their term of service, and must have been a citizen of West Virginia for at least five years prior to their election or appointment.[4] In 1872, when the second (and current) Constitution of West Virginia was enacted, the constitution averred that citizens residing in the state at the time of its enactment were also authorized to be elected or appointed as attorney general, regardless of the length of the residency in West Virginia.[4] Their election can be held at any time as prescribed by law.[5] The attorney general's term of office is four years and commences on the first Monday after the second Wednesday of the month of January following their election.[3] If the office of attorney general should become vacant on account of death, resignation, or otherwise, the governor is authorized to select an appointee to hold that office until a successor can be elected and qualified.[6]

Since West Virginia became a state on June 20, 1863, it has had 34 attorneys general, of whom 33 men have held the office (the inaugural attorney general, Aquilla B. Caldwell of Ohio County, served two nonconsecutive terms).[7][8] Caldwell was the first Republican to hold the office, and Joseph Sprigg of Hampshire County was the first Democrat.[8] Darrell McGraw, who held the position from 1993 to 2013, is the longest-serving attorney general and served the most consecutive terms, being elected to the office five times.[8][9] The current attorney general, Patrick Morrisey, began his term on January 14, 2013, and is the first Republican to hold the office in 80 years since Howard B. Lee in 1933 and the first from Jefferson County.[10][11] Six attorneys general have served as Governor of West Virginia.[12]

List of attorneys general

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No. Attorney General[8] TermTemplate:Efn Party[8] County of residence[8]
Start End
1 File:Seal of West Virginia.svg Script error: No such module "sort".Template:Efn June 20, 1863 December 31, 1864 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Republican Ohio
2 File:Seal of West Virginia.svg Script error: No such module "sort". January 1, 1865 December 31, 1865 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Republican Marion
3 File:Judge Edwin Maxwell.jpg Script error: No such module "sort".Template:Efn January 1, 1866 December 31, 1866 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Republican Harrison
4 File:Thayer Melvin.png Script error: No such module "sort". January 1, 1867 July 1, 1869 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Republican Ohio
5 File:Seal of West Virginia.svg Aquilla B. CaldwellTemplate:Efn July 2, 1869 December 31, 1870 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Republican Ohio
6 File:Joseph Sprigg.jpg Script error: No such module "sort". January 1, 1871 December 31, 1872 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Democratic Hampshire
7 File:Henry M. Mathews - Brady-Handy.jpg Script error: No such module "sort". January 1, 1873 March 3, 1877 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Democratic Greenbrier
8 File:Col. Robert White.jpg Script error: No such module "sort". March 4, 1877 March 3, 1881 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Democratic Hampshire
9 File:Cornelius C. Watts (West Virginia attorney general).jpg Script error: No such module "sort". March 4, 1881 March 3, 1885 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Democratic Kanawha
10 File:Alfred Caldwell Jr. (1847–1925).png Script error: No such module "sort". March 4, 1885 March 3, 1893 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Democratic Ohio
11 File:Thomas S. Riley 1919.jpg Script error: No such module "sort". March 4, 1893 March 3, 1897 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Democratic Ohio
12 File:Edgar P. Rucker 1905 (trsp).png Script error: No such module "sort". March 4, 1897 March 3, 1901 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Republican McDowell
13 File:Romeo H. Freer (West Virginia Congressman).jpg Script error: No such module "sort". March 4, 1901 March 3, 1905 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Republican Ritchie
14 File:Seal of West Virginia.svg Script error: No such module "sort". March 4, 1905 April 25, 1908 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Republican Lincoln
15 File:WilliamGConley.jpg Script error: No such module "sort".Template:Efn May 9, 1908 March 3, 1913 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Republican Preston
16 File:Armistead Abraham Lilly 1915.jpg Script error: No such module "sort". March 4, 1913 March 3, 1917 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Republican Raleigh
17 File:Edward T. England, West Virginia Congressman.jpg Script error: No such module "sort". March 4, 1917 March 3, 1925 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Republican Logan
18 File:Howard B. Lee (cropped).jpg Script error: No such module "sort". March 4, 1925 March 3, 1933 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Republican Mercer
19 File:Homer A. Holt.jpg Script error: No such module "sort". March 4, 1933 January 18, 1937 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Democratic Fayette
20 File:Clarence W. Meadows.jpg Script error: No such module "sort".Template:Efn January 18, 1937 May 16, 1942 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Democratic Raleigh
21 File:William S. Wysong (West Virginia attorney general).jpg Script error: No such module "sort".Template:Efn May 25, 1942 January 13, 1943 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Democratic Webster
22 File:James Kay Thomas.jpg Script error: No such module "sort".Template:Efn January 13, 1943 January 15, 1945 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Democratic Kanawha
23 File:Ira J. Partlow (West Virginia Attorney General).jpg Script error: No such module "sort".Template:Efn January 15, 1945 November 7, 1949 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Democratic McDowell
24 File:William C. Marland.jpg Script error: No such module "sort".Template:Efn December 1, 1949 February 1, 1952 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Democratic Wyoming
25 File:Seal of West Virginia.svg Script error: No such module "sort".Template:Efn February 1, 1952 August 16, 1952 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Democratic Logan
26 File:Seal of West Virginia.svg Script error: No such module "sort".Template:Efn August 16, 1952 January 14, 1957 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Democratic Fayette
27 File:William Wallace Barron.jpg Script error: No such module "sort". January 14, 1957 January 16, 1961 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Democratic Randolph
28 File:Seal of West Virginia.svg Script error: No such module "sort". January 16, 1961 January 13, 1969 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Democratic Harrison
29 File:Chauncey Browning.jpg Script error: No such module "sort". January 13, 1969 January 14, 1985 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Democratic Logan
30 File:Charlie Brown portrait.jpg Script error: No such module "sort". January 14, 1985 August 21, 1989 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Democratic Kanawha
31 File:Seal of West Virginia.svg Script error: No such module "sort".Template:Efn September 5, 1989 January 14, 1991 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Democratic Kanawha
32 File:Mario Palumbo.jpg Script error: No such module "sort".Template:Efn January 14, 1991 January 18, 1993 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Democratic Kanawha
33 File:Seal of West Virginia.svg Script error: No such module "sort". January 18, 1993 January 14, 2013 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Democratic Wyoming
34 File:Patrick Morrisey by Gage Skidmore.jpg Script error: No such module "sort". January 14, 2013 January 13, 2025 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Republican Jefferson
35 File:John McCuskey by Gage Skidmore.jpg Script error: No such module "sort". January 13, 2025 Incumbent style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Republican

References

Explanatory notes

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Citations

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  1. ↑ a b c d e f Script error: No such module "Footnotes".
  2. ↑ Constitution of West Virginia (1863) Article VII, § 1.
  3. ↑ a b c d e Constitution of West Virginia (1872) Article VII, § 1. Executive department.
  4. ↑ a b Constitution of West Virginia (1872) Article IV, § 4. Persons entitled to hold office -- Age requirements.
  5. ↑ Constitution of West Virginia (1872) Article VII, § 2. Election.
  6. ↑ Constitution of West Virginia (1872) Article VII, § 17. Vacancies in other executive departments.
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "Footnotes".
  8. ↑ a b c d e f Script error: No such module "Footnotes".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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Bibliography

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External links

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