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 d ...

of the State of Arizona, 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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. 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-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, the court consists of a chief justice, a vice chief justice, and five associate justices. Each justice ...

ruled the law unconstitutional during the appointment process of

Jack LaSota John A. ("Jack") LaSota is a former Arizona Attorney General (1977–1978). LaSota also served as Bruce Babbitt's Chief of Staff when the former was governor of Arizona. He is a lobbyist for the firm LaSota & Peters, P.L.C. Career LaSota i ...

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

* Coles Bashford 1864–1866 *

John A. Rush John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

1866–1867 * Granville Henderson Oury 1869 *

J. E. McCaffry ''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...

ca. 1872 *

Clark Churchill Clark Churchill (June 17, 1836April 4, 1896) was an attorney and politician in the American territory of Arizona. He is best remembered for having served as the Attorney General of Arizona from 1883 to 1885. Biography Early years Clark Churchill ...

1884–1887 *

Briggs Goodrich Briggs may refer to: People * Briggs (surname) * Briggs (rapper), Australian rapper Places ;In the United States * Briggs, Nebraska, an unincorporated community * Briggs, Ohio * Briggs, Oklahoma * Briggs, Texas * Briggs, Virginia * Briggs Lake, a ...

1887–1888 *

1888–1889 *

1889–1892 * William Herring 1892–1893 *

John C. Herndon John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

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 Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

1895–1896 * John Frank Wilson 1896–1897 *

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1898 *

Charles F. Ainsworth Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

1898–1902 * Edmund W. Wells 1902–1904 *

Joseph H. Kibbey Joseph Henry Kibbey (March 4, 1853 – June 14, 1924) was an American attorney who served as Associate Justice of the Arizona Territorial Supreme Court from 1889 to 1893 and Governor of Arizona Territory from 1905 to 1909. His legal career is mo ...

1904–1905 *

E. S. Clark E is the fifth letter of the Latin alphabet. E or e may also refer to: Commerce and transportation * €, the symbol for the euro, the European Union's standard currency unit * ℮, the estimated sign, an EU symbol indicating that the wei ...

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

FindLaw FindLaw is a business of Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational media conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where it is headquartered at the Bay Adelaide Centre. Thom ...

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