Alaska Attorney General Explained

Post:Alaska Attorney General
Incumbent:Treg Taylor
Incumbentsince:January 30, 2021
Member Of:Government of Alaska
Reports To:Governor of Alaska
Appointer:Governor of Alaska
First:1916
Website:law.state.ak.us

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]

List of attorneys general

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

NameImageTerm of officeGovernor(s)
George Barnes Grigsby1916–1919Strong, Riggs
Jeremiah C. Murphy1919–1920Riggs
John Rustgard1920–1933Riggs, Bone, Parks
James S. Truitt1933–1941Troy, Gruening
Henry Roden1941–1945Gruening
Ralph Julian Rivers1945–1949Gruening
J. Gerald Williams1949–1959Gruening, Heintzleman, Stepovich

State of Alaska

NameImageTerm of officeGovernor(s)
John Rader1959–1960Egan
Ralph E. Moody1960–1962
George N. Hayes1962–1964
Warren C. Colver1964–1966
Donald A. Burr1966–1967Hickel
Edgar Paul Boyko1967–1968
G. Kent Edwards1968–1970
Miller
John E. Havelock1970–1973Egan
Norman C. Gorsuch1973–1974
Avrum M. Gross1974–1980Hammond
Wilson L. Condon1980–1982
Norman C. Gorsuch1982–1985Sheffield
Harold M. Brown1985–1986
Grace Berg Schaible1987–1989Cowper
Douglas Baily1989–1990
Charlie Cole1991–1994Hickel
Bruce Botelho1994–2002
Knowles
Gregg Renkes2002–2005Murkowski
David W. Márquez2005–2006
Talis J. Colberg2006–2009Palin
Dan Sullivan2009–2010
Parnell
John J. Burns2010–2012
Michael Geraghty2012–2014
Craig W. Richards[2] 2014–2016Walker
Jahna Lindemuth2016–2018
Kevin Clarkson2018–2020Dunleavy
Ed Sniffen (acting)2020–2021
Treg Taylor2021–present

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Alaskan State Constitution . 2008-03-14 . 2012-02-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120222043601/http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/docs/pdf/citizens_guide.pdf . dead .
  2. Web site: About the Attorney General - Alaska Department of Law . 2014-12-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141220173456/http://law.alaska.gov/department/ag.html . 2014-12-20 . dead .