Vermont Attorney General
The Vermont Attorney General is one of five cabinet-level constitutional officers in the U.S. state of Vermont which are elected every two years. It was created by an act of the Vermont General Assembly in 1790, repealed in 1797, and revived in 1904. The office began as a one-person operation located at Windsor, Vermont, the state's first capital. When the position was recreated in 1904 offices were located in the Vermont State House. The office is now headquartered in the Pavilion and is the largest employer of attorneys in the state. William H. Sorrell of Burlington is the current Vermont Attorney General.
The office provides legal counsel for all state agencies and the Vermont General Assembly, the state's legislative branch. It handles civil and criminal cases in all courts of the state for both the trial and appellate levels. It defends the state when it is sued and files suits to enforce Vermont’s criminal, environmental, consumer protection, civil rights and other laws.[1]
Election
The attorney general was originally chosen by a vote of the Vermont General Assembly.[2][3] Since 1908 the attorney general has been elected every two years at the same time and in the same manner as other statewide elected officials.[4]
List of Vermont Attorneys General
# | Name | Term of Office | Political Party |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Samuel Hitchcock | 1790–1793 | Federalist |
2 | Daniel Buck | 1793–1795 | Federalist |
Office vacant 1795–1797 | |||
Office abolished 1797–1904 | |||
3 | Clarke C. Fitts | 1904–1908 | Republican |
4 | John G. Sargent | 1908–1912 | Republican |
5 | Rufus E. Brown | 1912–1914 | Republican |
6 | Herbert G. Barber | 1914–1919 | Republican |
7 | Frank C. Archibald | 1919–1925 | Republican |
8 | J. Ward Carver | 1925–1931 | Republican |
9 | Lawrence C. Jones | 1931–1941 | Republican |
10 | Alban J. Parker | 1941–1947 | Republican |
11 | Clifton G. Parker | 1947–1953 | Republican |
12 | F. Elliott Barber, Jr. | 1953–1955 | Republican |
13 | Robert T. Stafford | 1955–1957 | Republican |
14 | Frederick M. Reed | 1957–1960 | Republican |
15 | Thomas M. Debevoise | 1960–1962 | Republican |
16 | Charles J. Adams | 1962–1963 | Republican |
17 | Charles E. Gibson, Jr. | 1963–1965 | Republican |
18 | John P. Connarn | 1965–1967 | Democratic |
19 | James L. Oakes | 1967–1969 | Republican |
20 | James M. Jeffords | 1969–1973 | Republican |
21 | Kimberly B. Cheney | 1973–1975 | Republican |
22 | M. Jerome Diamond | 1975–1981 | Democratic |
23 | John J. Easton, Jr. | 1981–1985 | Republican |
24 | Jeffrey L. Amestoy | 1985–1997 | Republican |
25 | Bill Sorrell | 1997–2017 | Democratic |
26 | T. J. Donovan | 2017 | Democratic |
Footnotes
- ↑ Official site
- ↑ Crockett, Walter H. (1928). State Papers of Vermont. III. p. 220.
- ↑ Journal of the Senate of the State of Vermont. St. Albans, VT: St. Albans Messenger Company. 1905. p. 493.
- ↑ 3 V.S.A. §151
External links
- Vermont Attorney General official website
- Vermont Attorney General articles at Legal Newsline Legal Journal
- Vermont Attorney General articles at ABA Journal
- News and Commentary at FindLaw
- Vermont Statutes at Law.Justia.com
- U.S. Supreme Court Opinions - "Cases with title containing: State of Vermont" at FindLaw
- Vermont Bar Association
- Vermont Attorney General William H. Sorrell profile at National Association of Attorneys General
- Press releases at Vermont Attorney General