Massachusetts Attorney General

Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Seal of Massachusetts
Incumbent Maura Healey since January 21, 2015
Style	Her Honor
Term length	Four years
Inaugural holder	Paul Dudley
Formation	1702
Website	www.mass.gov/ago

The Massachusetts Attorney General is an elected constitutionally defined executive officer of the Massachusetts Government. The officeholder is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The officeholder also acts as an advocate and resource for the Commonwealth and its residents in many areas, including consumer protection, combating fraud and corruption, protecting civil rights, and maintaining economic competition. The current Attorney General is Maura Healey.

Contents

• 
  1 History
  


• 
  2 Organization
  


• 
  3 List of Attorneys General
  


• 
  4 References
  


• 
  5 External links
  

History

When the 1780 state constitution was first enacted, the Attorney General was appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Governor's Council. The office was abolished in 1843 and re-established in 1849. In 1855 the constitution was amended so that the Attorney General (along with a number of other constitutionally enumerated offices) was elected by the people. The length of the term of office has matched that of the governor, and elections are held concurrently with those for other constitutional office. Elections were first held annually, became biennial (every two years) in 1920, and quadrennial (every four years) in 1966.

Organization

The Office of the Attorney General is organized into six Bureaus: Executive; Energy and Environmental; Criminal; Government; Health Care and Fair Competition; and Public Protection and Advocacy. Each bureau is divided into divisions and teams. These Bureaus and Divisions have distinct missions, but work closely together to ensure the Attorney General’s Office provides the highest level of public protection.

List of Attorneys General

No.	Attorney General		Term	Party
1	Paul Dudley		July 1702 – November 1718
2	John Valentine		November 1718 – June 1720
3	Thomas Newton		June 1720 – May 1721
Vacant	Vacant		May 1721 – June 1722
4	John Overing		June 1722 – June 1723
5	Vacant		June 1723 – June 1725
6	John Read		June 1725 – June 1728
7	Joseph Hiller		June 1728 – June 1729
8	John Overing		June 1729 – June 1736
9	William Brattle		June 1736 – June 1738
10	Edmund Trowbridge		June 1738 – March 1767
11	Jeremiah Gridley		March 1767 – September 1767
12	Vacant		September 1767 – November 1767
13	Jonathan Sewall		November 1767 – September 1774
14	Vacant		September 1774 – June 1777
15	Robert Treat Paine		June 19, 1778–1790
16	James Sullivan		1790–1807	Democratic-Republican
17	Barnabas Bidwell		June 15, 1807 – August 30, 1810	Democratic-Republican
18	Perez Morton		1810–1832	Democratic-Republican
19	James T. Austin		1832–1843	National Republican Party
Vacant			Office Abolished from 1843 to 1849.
20	John H. Clifford		1849–1853	Whig
21	Rufus Choate		1853 – May 12, 1854	Whig
22	John H. Clifford		1854–1858	Whig
23	Stephen Henry Phillips		1858–1861	Republican
24	Dwight Foster		1861–1864	Republican
25	Chester I. Reed		1864 – April 20, 1867	Republican
26	Charles Allen		1867–1872	Republican
27	Charles R. Train		1872–1879	Republican
28	George Marston		1879–1883	Republican
29	Edgar J. Sherman		1883 – October 1, 1887	Republican
30	Andrew J. Waterman		1887–1891	Republican
31	Albert E. Pillsbury		1891–1894	Republican
32	Hosea M. Knowlton		1894–1902	Republican
33	Herbert Parker		1902–1906	Republican
34	Dana Malone		1906–1911	Republican
35	James M. Swift		1911–1914	Republican
36	Thomas J. Boynton		1914–1915	Democratic
37	Henry Converse Atwill		1915–1919	Republican
Acting	Henry A. Wyman		1919–1920	Republican
38	J. Weston Allen		1920–1923	Republican
39	Jay R. Benton		1923–1927	Republican
40	Arthur K. Reading		1927 – June 6, 1928	Republican
41	Joseph E. Warner		1928–1935	Republican
42	Paul A. Dever		1935–1941	Democratic
43	Robert T. Bushnell		1941–1945	Republican
44	Clarence A. Barnes		1945–1949	Republican
45	Francis E. Kelly		1949–1953	Democratic
46	George Fingold		1953 – August 31, 1958	Republican
47	Edward J. McCormack, Jr.		September 11, 1958 – January 1963	Democratic
48	Edward Brooke		January 1963–January 2, 1967	Republican
Interim	Edward T. Martin		January 2, 1967 – January 18, 1967	Republican
49	Elliot Richardson		January 18, 1967 – January 1969	Republican
50	Robert H. Quinn		January 1969 – January 1975	Democratic
51	Francis X. Bellotti		January 1975 – January 1987	Democratic
52	James Shannon		January 1987 – January 1991	Democratic
53	L. Scott Harshbarger		January 1991 – January 1999	Democratic
54	Thomas Reilly		January 1999 – January 2007	Democratic
55	Martha Coakley		January 2007 – January 2015	Democratic
56	Maura Healey		January 2015 – Present	Democratic

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

References

• Source: http://www.mass.gov/ago
  


• Source: http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/MA/ofc/attygn.html
  

External links

• 
  Massachusetts Attorney General official website


• 
  Massachusetts Attorney General articles at Legal Newsline Legal Journal
  


• 
  Massachusetts Attorney General articles at ABA Journal
  


• 
  News and Commentary at FindLaw
  


• 
  Massachusetts General Laws at Law.Justia.com


• 
  U.S. Supreme Court Opinions - "Cases with title containing: State of Massachusetts" at FindLaw
  


• Massachusetts Bar Association


• 
  Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey profile at National Association of Attorneys General
  


• 
  Press releases at Massachusetts Attorney General

v t e Current statewide government officials of Massachusetts
U.S. Senators	Elizabeth Warren Ed Markey
State government	Charlie Baker, Governor Karyn Polito, Lieutenant Governor William Galvin, Secretary of State Maura Healey, Attorney General Deb Goldberg, Treasurer Suzanne Bump, Auditor
State Senate	Karen Spilka, President Marc Pacheco, President pro tempore Cynthia Stone Creem, Majority Leader Bruce Tarr, Minority Leader
State House	Robert DeLeo, Speaker Patricia Haddad, Speaker pro tempore Ronald Mariano, Majority Leader Bradley Jones, Minority Leader
Supreme Judicial Court	Ralph Gants, Chief Justice Barbara Lenk Frank M. Gaziano David A. Lowy Kimberly S. Budd Elspeth B. Cypher Scott L. Kafker, Associate Justices
See also: Political party strength in Massachusetts

v t e Government of Massachusetts
Legislative	General Court Senate (Members, President) House of Representatives (Members, Speaker)
Executive	Governor (List) Lt. Governor Attorney General Auditor Secretary of the Commonwealth Treasurer and Receiver-General Office for Administration and Finance Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Emergency Management Agency Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Department of Environmental Protection Office of Health and Human Services Office of Housing and Economic Development Office of Labor and Workforce Development Department of Mental Health Department of Public Health Office of Public Safety and Security Department of Public Utilities Department of Transportation Department of Youth Services
Judicial	Boston Municipal Court District Court Superior Court Land Court Juvenile Court Housing Court Massachusetts Probate and Family Court Appeals Court (Judges) Supreme Judicial Court
Independent agencies	Board of Library Commissioners Commission Against Discrimination Commission on the Status of Women Disabled Persons Protection Commission Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board Massachusetts District Attorneys Massachusetts Inspector General Office of Campaign and Political Finance Office of the Comptroller Massachusetts Sheriffs State Ethics Commission
Law	Constitution General Laws Code of Massachusetts Regulations Alcohol Cannabis Capital punishment Crime Elder law Gaming Gun laws LGBT rights Taxation

v t e Attorneys General of the United States
Acting United States Attorney General: Matt Whitaker (R)
AL Steve Marshall (R) AK Kevin Clarkson (R) AZ Mark Brnovich (R) AR Leslie Rutledge (R) CA Xavier Becerra (D) CO Cynthia Coffman (R) CT George Jepsen (D) DE Matthew Denn (D) FL Pam Bondi (R) GA Chris Carr (R) HI Russell Suzuki (D) ID Lawrence Wasden (R) IL Lisa Madigan (D) IN Curtis Hill (R) IA Tom Miller (D) KS Derek Schmidt (R) KY Andy Beshear (D) LA Jeff Landry (R) ME Janet Mills (D) MD Brian Frosh (D) MA Maura Healey (D) MI Bill Schuette (R) MN Lori Swanson (D) MS Jim Hood (D) MO Josh Hawley (R) MT Tim Fox (R) NE Doug Peterson (R) NV Adam Laxalt (R) NH Gordon MacDonald (R) NJ Gurbir Grewal (D) NM Hector Balderas (D) NY Barbara Underwood (D) NC Josh Stein (D) ND Wayne Stenehjem (R) OH Mike DeWine (R) OK Mike Hunter (R) OR Ellen Rosenblum (D) PA Josh Shapiro (D) RI Peter Kilmartin (D) SC Alan Wilson (R) SD Marty Jackley (R) TN Herbert Slatery (R) TX Ken Paxton (R) UT Sean Reyes (R) VT T. J. Donovan (D) VA Mark Herring (D) WA Bob Ferguson (D) WV Patrick Morrisey (R) WI Brad Schimel (R) WY Peter Michael (R) DC Karl Racine (D) Territories: AS Talauega Ale (D) GU Elizabeth Barrett-Anderson (R) MP Edward Manibusan (D) PR Wanda Vázquez Garced (D) VI Claude Walker (I)
Political party affiliations: 29 Republicans 26 Democrats 1 Independents *Acting Attorney General

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