The Texas attorney general is the chief legal officer
of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. The current officeholder, Republican

Ken Paxton Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. (born December 23, 1962) is an American politician and lawyer who has served as the attorney general of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the Texas Senate representing the e ...

, has served in the position since January 5, 2015.

History

The Office of the Attorney General was first established by executive ordinance of the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...

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. ClementsWilliamStateOfficeBuilding

Attorney generals are elected to four-year terms. In 2013, former Attorney General

Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott ( ; born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and jurist who has served since 2015 as the 48th governor of Texas. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served from 2002 to ...

announced he would not seek reelection and would run for governor. In November 2014, he was elected as the governor of Texas.

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, (there is a historical dispute whether he is the 50th or 51st attorney general). Paxton was sworn in on January 5, 2015, in the Senate Chamber in the Texas Capitol. Governor

Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 in the first administration of Donald Trump. He previously served as the 47th governor of Texas fr ...

, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, United States Senator Ted Cruz, and Lieutenant Governor-Elect Dan Patrick all participated in the swearing-in ceremony.

Duties and responsibilities

The attorney general is charged by the state constitution to represent the state in

civil litigation Civil law is a major "branch of the law", in common law legal systems such as those in England and Wales and in the United States, where it stands in contrast to criminal law. Glanville Williams. ''Learning the Law''. Eleventh Edition. Stevens. 1 ...

and approve public bond issues.Texas Constitution Article 3 Section 49
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. 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. The Office of the Attorney General, Law Enforcement Division 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 Medicaid is a government program in the United States that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. The program is partially funded and primarily managed by U.S. state, state governments, which also h ...

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.

Officeholders

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 James Stephen Hogg (March 24, 1851March 3, 1906) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the 20th governor of Texas from 1891 to 1895. He was born near Rusk, Texas. Hogg was a follower of the conservative New South Creed which beca ...

Charles A. Culberson Charles Allen Culberson (June 10, 1855 – March 19, 1925) was an American political figure and Democrat who served as the 21st governor of Texas from 1895 to 1899, and as a United States senator from Texas from 1899 to 1923. According to one ...

Dan Moody Daniel James Moody Jr. (June 1, 1893May 22, 1966), was an American lawyer and Democratic politician. Originally from Taylor, Texas, he served as the 30th governor of Texas between 1927 and 1931. At the age of 33, he was elected. He took offic ...

, James V. Allred,

Price Daniel Marion Price Daniel Sr. (October 10, 1910August 25, 1988), was an American jurist and politician who served as a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic United States Senate, U.S. Senator and the 38th governor of Texas. He was appointed by Ly ...

, Mark White, and

were elected

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

. Culberson, Daniel, and

John Cornyn John Cornyn III ( ; born February 2, 1952) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Texas, a seat he has held since 2002. ...

were later elected to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

Notes

# First elected attorney general (AG) of state of Texas; previously elected AG of the

# Resigned # Appointed

References

External links

Texas Attorney General
official website
Texas Attorney General
articles at ''ABA Journal''

at

FindLaw FindLaw is a business of Internet Brands that provides online legal information in the form of state laws, case law and codes, legal blogs and articles, a lawyer directory, DIY legal services and products, and other legal resources. The compa ...

U.S. Supreme Court Opinions – "Cases with title containing: State of Texas"
at

State Bar of Texas

Texas Attorney General Opinions
hosted by th
Portal to Texas History
{{authority control Attorney General, Texas

Attorneys general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...