Alaska Attorney General

The Alaska Attorney General is the chief legal advisor to the government of the State of Alaska and to its governor. The Attorney General is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Alaska Legislature. The position has existed since the early days of the Territory of Alaska, though it was an elected rather than an appointed position prior to statehood. The Attorney General also serves as the Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Law, and is the only commissioner of a principal department of Alaska state government not referred to as "Commissioner" in normal usage.[1]

Alaska Attorney General
Incumbent
Treg Taylor
since January 30, 2021
Member ofGovernment of Alaska
Reports toGovernor of Alaska
AppointerGovernor of Alaska
First holder1916
Websitelaw.state.ak.us

List of attorneys general

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In the earliest days of the Alaska Territory, the Territorial Counsel served as the de facto attorney general. Only one person, John H. Cobb, served in this position. The 2nd Alaska Territorial Legislature in 1915 created the Office of the Attorney General, to become effective after the 1916 general election. The attorney general's position was an elected position during the entirety of territorial days, as opposed to under statehood, in which it has been a position appointed by the governor since 1959. The following is a list of attorneys general in Alaska.

Alaska Territory

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Name Image Term of office Governor(s)
George Barnes Grigsby   1916–1919 Strong, Riggs
Jeremiah C. Murphy   1919–1920 Riggs
John Rustgard   1920–1933 Riggs, Bone, Parks
James S. Truitt   1933–1941 Troy, Gruening
Henry Roden   1941–1945 Gruening
Ralph Julian Rivers   1945–1949 Gruening
J. Gerald Williams   1949–1959 Gruening, Heintzleman, Stepovich

State of Alaska

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Name Image Term of office Governor(s)
John Rader   1959–1960 Egan
Ralph E. Moody   1960–1962
George N. Hayes   1962–1964
Warren C. Colver   1964–1966
Donald A. Burr   1966–1967 Hickel
Edgar Paul Boyko   1967–1968
G. Kent Edwards   1968–1970
Miller
John E. Havelock   1970–1973 Egan
Norman C. Gorsuch   1973–1974
Avrum M. Gross   1974–1980 Hammond
Wilson L. Condon   1980–1982
Norman C. Gorsuch   1982–1985 Sheffield
Harold M. Brown   1985–1986
Grace Berg Schaible   1987–1989 Cowper
Douglas Baily   1989–1990
Charlie Cole   1991–1994 Hickel
Bruce Botelho   1994–2002
Knowles
Gregg Renkes   2002–2005 Murkowski
David W. Márquez   2005–2006
Talis J. Colberg   2006–2009 Palin
Dan Sullivan   2009–2010
Parnell
John J. Burns   2010–2012
Michael Geraghty   2012–2014
Craig W. Richards[2]   2014–2016 Walker
Jahna Lindemuth   2016–2018
Kevin Clarkson   2018–2020 Dunleavy
Ed Sniffen (acting) 2020–2021
Treg Taylor 2021–present

References

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  1. ^ "Alaskan State Constitution" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2008-03-14.
  2. ^ "About the Attorney General - Alaska Department of Law". Archived from the original on 2014-12-20. Retrieved 2014-12-02.
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