Arkansas Attorney General

Arkansas Attorney General

Seal of the Attorney General of Arkansas
Executive overview
Formed March 13, 1868 (1868-03-13)
Jurisdiction The State of Arkansas
Headquarters Little Rock, Arkansas
34°44′45″N 92°16′22″W / 34.745768°N 92.272823°W / 34.745768; -92.272823Coordinates: 34°44′45″N 92°16′22″W / 34.745768°N 92.272823°W / 34.745768; -92.272823
Executive executive
Website www.ag.arkansas.gov


The Arkansas Attorney General is an executive position and constitutional officer within the Arkansas government. The Attorney General is the chief law enforcement/legal officer and lawyer for Arkansas. The position is elected every four years, e.g. 2006 and 2010, at the same time as the Governor.

The current Attorney General is Republican Leslie Rutledge, who was elected on November 4, 2014 and sworn in as the 56th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 13, 2015. She is the first Republican ever to serve as Arkansas Attorney General, as well as the first woman.[1]

The best-known Arkansas Attorney General is Bill Clinton, who was elected to the position in 1976 and served until he was elected governor in 1978. Other former attorneys general include Bruce Bennett, Joe Purcell, Ray Thornton, Jim Guy Tucker, Mark Pryor, Steve Clark and Mike Beebe.[2] Until Rutledge took office, Democrats had held the office since Reconstruction.[3]

According to the official website, the duties of the Attorney General include representing state agencies and commissions in courts of law, giving opinions on issues presented by legislators and prosecutors, handling criminal matters and habeas corpus matters in the state, and advocating for citizens on issues pertaining to the environment, antitrust, and consumer protection.[4]

References

  1. "Leslie Rutledge; Attorney General of Arkansas". Republican Attorneys General Association. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  2. "Office of Attorney General". The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. Little Rock, Arkansas: Butler Center for Arkansas Studies at the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS). 16 January 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  3. "State Attorneys General Results — 2014". Bingham. Bingham McCutchen LLP law firm. 6 November 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  4. "Arkansas Attorney General". State of Arkansas. Retrieved 2 March 2015.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, January 25, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.