The Arizona Attorney General is the

chief legal officer A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

of the

State of Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Four Co ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. This state officer is the head of the Arizona Department of Law, more commonly known as the Arizona Attorney General's Office. The state attorney general is a

constitutionally A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...

-established officer, elected by the people of the state to a four-year term. The state attorney general is second (behind the Secretary of State) in the

line of succession An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.Governor of Arizona A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. Mark also believes that innocence of a crime is not a sufficient defense to get someone off death row as he argued in court. Headed by the attorney general of Arizona, the Arizona Attorney General's Office is the largest law office in the state, with approximately 400 attorneys and 1,000 employees. , the Attorney General's Office is divided into the following divisions: * Executive Office * Solicitor General * Operations * Child and Family Protection * State Government Division * Civil Litigation Division * Criminal

Qualifications

The Arizona Constitution requires all of the officers in the state's executive department, including the attorney general, to be at least 25 years old, a U.S. citizen for 10 years and an Arizona resident for five years. Arizona law further requires the attorney general to have been a "practicing attorney before the supreme court of the state" for at least five years before taking office, however the

Arizona Supreme Court The Arizona Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the U.S. state of Arizona. Sitting in the Supreme Court building in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, the court consists of a chief justice, a vice chief justice, and five associate justice ...

ruled the law unconstitutional during the appointment process of Jack LaSota in 1977; LaSota had not renewed his state bar membership and was therefore not considered a practicing attorney.

Powers and duties

While the state constitution establishes the office of Attorney General, it does not prescribe the powers of the office. Instead, the Arizona Constitution expressly provides that the powers and duties of the state attorney general are to be prescribed by the

Arizona State Legislature The Arizona State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Senate. Composed of 90 legislators, the ...

. In pursuance of this constitutional mandate, the Arizona Legislature has prescribed that, under A.R.S. §41-193(A)(1) – §41-193(A)(8), the attorney general of Arizona, through the Arizona Department of Law, shall: # Prosecute and defend in the state supreme court all proceedings in which the state or an officer thereof is a party ~ A.R.S. §41-193(A)(1); # Under certain conditions, prosecute and defend any proceeding in all other courts of the state, in which the state or an officer thereof is a party or has an interest ~ A.R.S. §41-193(A)(2); # Represent the state in any action in a federal court ~ A.R.S. §41-193(A)(3); # Exercise supervisory powers over county attorneys ~ A.R.S. §41-193(A)(4); # Under certain conditions, assist any county attorney in the discharge of their duties ~ A.R.S. §41-193(A)(5); # Maintain a docket of all proceedings in which the attorney general is required to appear ~ A.R.S. §41-193(A)(6); # Issue attorney general opinions on questions of law to state officers and agencies ~ A.R.S. §41-193(A)(7); and # Perform other duties prescribed by law ~ A.R.S. §41-193(A)(8).

Arizona Attorneys General

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state o ...

Coles Bashford Coles Bashford (January 24, 1816April 25, 1878) was an American lawyer and politician who became the fifth governor of Wisconsin, and one of the founders of the U.S. Republican Party. His one term as governor ended in a bribery scandal that ended ...

1864–1866 * John A. Rush 1866–1867 * Granville Henderson Oury 1869 * J. E. McCaffry ca. 1872 * Clark Churchill 1884–1887 * Briggs Goodrich 1887–1888 * John A. Rush 1888–1889 * Clark Churchill 1889–1892 * William Herring 1892–1893 * John C. Herndon 1893 *

Francis J. Heney Francis Joseph "Frank" Heney (March 17, 1859 – October 31, 1937) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. Heney is known for killing an opposing plaintiff in self-defense and for being shot in the head by a prospective juror during the S ...

1893–1895 * Thomas D. Satterwhite 1895–1896 * John Frank Wilson 1896–1897 * C. M. Frazier 1898 * Charles F. Ainsworth 1898–1902 * Edmund W. Wells 1902–1904 * Joseph H. Kibbey 1904–1905 * E. S. Clark 1905–1910 * John B. Wright 1910–1912

State of Arizona

;Parties

References

External links

Arizona Attorney General Opinions

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

at

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Arizona Revised Statutes
at Law.Justia.com
U.S. Supreme Court Opinions – "Cases with title containing: State of Arizona"
at

State Bar of Arizona

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich profile
at

National Association of Attorneys General The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of state and territory attorneys general in the United States. NAAG is governed by member attorneys general, with a president and executive committee se ...

Press releases
at Arizona Attorney General's office {{Arizona year nav