Attorney General of Georgia

Attorney General of Georgia
Attorney General of Georgia
	State flag
	Incumbent; Christopher M. Carr; since November 1, 2016
Type	Chief law enforcement officer
Term length	4 years
Formation	1754
First holder	William Clifton
Website	law.ga.gov

The attorney general of Georgia is the attorney and legal advisor for the executive branch of the U.S. state of Georgia. They are responsible for providing opinions on legal questions concerning the state, prosecuting public corruption cases, overseeing contracts on behalf of the state, as well as representing the state in all civil cases, in all capital felony appeals, and in all cases appearing before the Supreme Court of the United States. They may also initiate civil or criminal actions on behalf of the State of Georgia when requested to do so by the governor.^[1]

The officeholder is elected to a four-year term at the same time as elections are held for governor of Georgia and other offices.

The current attorney general of Georgia is Christopher M. Carr. Carr was appointed by Governor Nathan Deal following the resignation of Sam Olens, who was officially appointed to the office of president of Kennesaw State University on November 1, 2016. Carr completed Olens' unexpired term, which expired in January 2019. Carr was re-elected to a four-year term in Georgia's 2018 statewide elections and was reelected in the 2022 Georgia statewide elections.

List of attorneys general, 1754–present

^[2]

Pre-statehood

#	Name	Term of service
1	William Clifton	1754–1764
2	Charles Pryce	1764–1776
3	Williams Stephens	1776–1780
4	John Milledge	1780–1781
5	Samuel Stirk	1781–1785
6	Nathaniel Pendleton	1785–1786
7	Matthew McAllister	1787–1788

Post-statehood

#	Name	Term of service	Political party
7	Matthew McAllister	1788–1791
8	George Walker	1792–1795
9	David Brydie Mitchell	1796–1806	Democraticic-Republican
10	Robert Walker	1807–1808
11	John Hamil	1808
12	John Forsyth	1808–1811	Democratic-Republican
13	Alexander M. Allen	1811
14	Richard H. Wilde	1811–1813	Democratic-Republican
15	Alexander M. Allen	1813–1816
16	Roger Lawson Gamble	1816–1822
17	Thomas F. Wells	1822–1827
18	George W. Crawford	1827–1831	Whig
19	Charles Jones Jenkins	1831–1834	Democratic
20	Ebenezer Starnes	1834–1840
21	James Gardner	1840–1843
22	John J. R. Flournoy	1843–1847
23	Alpheus Colvard	1847–1851
24	John Troup Shewmake	1851–1855
25	William R. McLaws	1855–1859
26	Alpheus M. Rogers	1859–1861
27	Winder P. Johnson	1861
28	William Watts Montgomery	1861–1865
29	George T. Barnes	1865–1866	Democratic
30	John Philpot Curren Whitehead	1866–1868
31	Henry P. Farrow	1868–1872	Republican
32	Nathaniel Job Hammond	1872–1877	Democratic
33	Robert N. Ely	1877–1880	Democratic
34	Clifford Anderson	1880–1890	Democratic
35	George N. Lester	1890–1891	Democratic
36	William A. Little	1891–1892	Democratic
37	Joseph M. Terrell	1892–1902	Democratic
38	Boykin Wright	1902	Democratic
39	John C. Hart	1902–1910	Democratic
40	Hewlett A. Hall	1910–1911	Democratic
41	Thomas S. Felder	1911–1914	Democratic
42	Warren Grice	1914–1915	Democratic
43	Clifford Walker	1915–1920	Democratic
44	R. A. Denny	1920–1921	Democratic
45	George M. Napier	1921–1932	Democratic
46	Lawrence S. Camp	1932	Democratic
47	M. J. Yeomans	1933–1939	Democratic
48	Ellis G. Arnall	1939–1943	Democratic
49	T. Grady Head	1943–1945	Democratic
50	Eugene Cook	1945–1965	Democratic
51	Arthur K. Bolton	1965–1981	Democratic
52	Michael J. Bowers	1981–1997	Democratic (1981–94)/Republican (1994–97)
53	Thurbert E. Baker	1997–2011	Democratic
54	Samuel S. Olens	2011–2016	Republican
55	Christopher M. Carr	2016–present	Republican

References

External links

Georgia Attorney General articles at ABA Journal
News and Commentary at FindLaw
Georgia Code at Law.Justia.com
U.S. Supreme Court Opinions - "Cases with title containing: State of Georgia" at FindLaw
State Bar of Georgia
Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens profile at National Association of Attorneys General
Press releases at Georgia Attorney General's office

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