The Attorney General of Arkansas, usually known simply as the Attorney General (AG), is one of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

's seven

constitutional officer In the United States, each state and territory has constitutional officers who lead the state governments of the United States. These officers may be elected or appointed, depending on the position. The number and powers of state constitution ...

s. The officeholder serves as the state's top

law enforcement officer A law enforcement officer (LEO), or peace officer in North American English, is a public-sector employee whose duties primarily involve the enforcement of laws. The phrase can include campaign disclosure specialists, local police officers, pr ...

and

consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. ...

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However ...

. Since January 13, 2015, the Attorney General of Arkansas has been

Leslie Rutledge Leslie Carol Rutledge (born June 9, 1976) is an American attorney and politician from the state of Arkansas, served as the 56th attorney general of Arkansas from 2015 to 2023. She is the 21st lieutenant governor of Arkansas, since 2023. Rutledge ...

History

The Attorney General was not originally a state constitutional officer but rather was created by Act 1 of 1843, which designated the Arkansas Attorney for the Fifth Judicial District as the attorney general. The first Attorney General of Arkansas was Robert W. Johnson. The Arkansas Constitution of 1868 made the post elective, though it required only that the attorney general “perform such duties as are now, or may hereafter, be prescribed by law.” This was reaffirmed in the constitution of 1874. Act 131 of 1911 laid out four general responsibilities of the attorney general's office: 1) to give opinions to state officers and agencies “upon any constitutional or other legal question that may concern the official action of said officers”; 2) to defend the interest of the state in federal court and representing all state officers, boards, and commissions in litigation involving the interests of the state; 3) to furnish any board or commission an opinion as to the validity of the title on any land they seek to purchase; and 4) to make a biennial report to the governor and the Arkansas General Assembly on all transactions of the attorney general's office.

Role and duties

The Attorney General represents state agencies and commissions in courts of law, giving opinions on issues presented by legislators and prosecutors, handling criminal matters and

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, ...

matters in the state, and advocating for citizens on issues pertaining to the

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust ...

, and

consumer protection Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

List of attorneys general

19th century

* Robert W. Johnson (1843) * Geo. C. Watkins (1843–1851) * J. J. Clendenin (1851–1856) * Thomas Johnson (1856–1858) * J. L. Hollowell (1858–1861) * P. Jordan (1861–1862) * Sam W. Williams (1862–1864) * Charles T. Jordan (1864–1865) Republican * R.S. Gantt (1865–1866) * R. H. Deadman (1866–1868) * J. R. Montgomery (1868–1873) Republican * Thomas D.W. Yonley (1873–1874) Republican * J. L. Witherspoon (1874) Democrat * Simon P. Hughes (1874–1876) Democrat * W. F. Henderson (1877–1881) Democrat * C. B. Moore (1881–1885) Democrat * D. W. Jones (1885–1889) Democrat * W. E. Atkinson (1889–1893) Democrat * J. P. Clarke (1893–1895) Democrat * E. B. Kinsworthy (1895–1899) Democrat * Jeff Davis (1899–1901) Democrat

20th century

* George W. Murphy (1901–1905) Democrat * Robt. L. Rogers (1905–1907) Democrat * Wm. F. Kirby (1907–1909) Democrat * Hal L. Norwood (1909–1913) Democrat * William L. Moose (1913–1915)https://books.google.com/books?id=3sI5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA3&dq=j.r.+montgomery+attorney+general+of+arkansas&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiUs-_7hbv6AhV2QzABHf4xDrkQ6AF6BAgKEAM#v=onepage&q=j.r.%20montgomery%20attorney%20general%20of%20arkansas&f=false Democrat * Wallace Davis (1915–1917) * John D. Arbuckle (1917–1921) * J. S. Utley (1921–1925) * W. H. Applegate (1925–1929) * Hal L. Norwood (1929–1934) * Walter L. Pope (1934–1935) *

Carl E. Bailey Carl Edward Bailey (October 8, 1894 – October 23, 1948) was the 31st governor of Arkansas from 1937 to 1941. Early life Bailey was born in Bernie in Stoddard County in southeastern Missouri. He attended public schools and graduated high sch ...

(1935–1937) * Jack Holt (1937–1943) * Guy E. Williams (1943–1949) * Ike Murry (1949–1953) * Tom Gentry (1953–1957) * Bruce Bennett (1957–1961) * J. Frank Holt (1961-1962) * Jack Holt, Jr. (1962–1963) * Bruce Bennett (1963–1967) * Joe Purcell (1967–1971) * Ray Thornton (1971–1973) * Rodney Parham (1973) * Jim Guy Tucker (1973–1977) * Bill Wilson (1977) *

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

(1977–1979) *

Steve Clark ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form ( hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

(1979–1990) * Ron Fields (1990) * Mary Stallcup (1990-1991) * Winston Bryant (1991–1999) Democrat * Mark Pryor (1999–2003) Democrat

21st century

* Leon Johnson (2003) * Mike Beebe (2003–2006) Democrat * Dustin McDaniel (2007–2015) Democrat *

(2015–2023) Republican * Tim Griffin (2023–present) Republican

References

External links

;Official * ; General information *
Attorneys General of Arkansas
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations ...

* {{Authority control

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...