The Tennessee attorney general (officially, attorney general and reporter) is the chief law enforcement officer and lawyer for 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 ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. The office of the attorney general is located at the state capitol in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. The current office holder is

Jonathan Skrmetti Jonathan Thomas Skrmetti (born 1977) is an American attorney and public official. He serves as the 28th Attorney General and Reporter for the state of Tennessee. Education Skrmetti earned degrees from George Washington University and Hertford ...

, who was appointed in 2022 by the

Tennessee Supreme Court The Tennessee Supreme Court is the highest court in the state of Tennessee. The Supreme Court's three buildings are seated in Nashville, Knoxville, and Jackson, Tennessee. The Court is composed of five members: a chief justice, and four justice ...

for an eight-year term. His service officially began when he was sworn in by the current

governor of Tennessee The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Tennessee Military Department, military forces. The governor is the only official in the Government of Tenne ...

, Bill Lee, on September 1, 2022.

Appointment by judiciary

Unlike any other

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

, the Tennessee attorney general is an officer of the judicial branch, not the executive branch. Article VI Section 5 of the

Tennessee Constitution The Constitution of the State of Tennessee defines the form, structure, activities, character, and fundamental rules (and means for changing them) of the U.S. State of Tennessee. The original constitution of Tennessee came into effect on June 1, ...

provides for the appointment of the attorney general by the justices of the Supreme Court for a term of 8 years. In most other states, the office of attorney general is appointed by the governor or elected by voters or the legislature.

Duties

Office of the Attorney General

The attorney general oversees the work and operations of the Office of the Attorney General. In this capacity, he is assisted by various office heads. Chief Deputy Attorney General - Lacey E. Mase * responsible for coordinating and supervising the Office's work * reviews much of the work done by the Office * responsible for general management Solicitor General - Andreé Sophia Blumstein * oversees all litigation on appeals in the

, Court of Appeals, Court of Criminal Appeals,

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

, and U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals * oversees all opinions published by the attorney general Chief of Staff - Brandon J. Smith * responsible for administrative matters * oversees talent management, organizational development,

information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

, fiscal issues, and facilities issues

List of attorneys general

References

External links

Tennessee Attorney General
official website
Tennessee 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 ...

* ttp://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/ Tennessee Codeat Law.Justia.com
U.S. Supreme Court Opinions - "Cases with title containing: State of Tennessee"
at

Tennessee Bar Association

General Herbert H. Slatery, III 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 which therefore means that the United States Attorney General in the federal government is n ...

Press releases
at Tennessee Attorney General *

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 ...