Texas Attorney General
head of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
The Attorney General of Texas is the state attorney general of the state government of the U.S. state of Texas. The attorney general is also the chief legal officer and the head of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He/she carries out official duties and responsibilities of the office through the Office of the Attorney General.
Attorney General of Texas | |
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Office of the Attorney General Texas Department of Criminal Justice Texas Executive Branch Texas Cabinet | |
Style |
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Seat | Austin, Texas |
Term length | Four years, no term limit |
Constituting instrument | Constitution of Texas |
Inaugural holder | Volney E. Howard |
Formation | 1846 |
Website | oag |
The state attorney general is elected to a four-year term. This does not have term limits. The election is held at the same statewide election as the governor, lieutenant governor, etc.
Ken Paxton is the current Attorney General of Texas, in office since January 2015 under Governor Greg Abbott.
Officeholders
changeParty | Attorneys general |
---|---|
Democratic | 44 |
Republican | 4 |
Unionist | 2 |
No. | Image | Name | Term of service | Political party |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Volney Howard | 1846 | Democratic | |
2 | John W. Harris | 1846–1849 | Democratic | |
3 | Henry Percy Brewster | 1849–1850 | Democratic | |
4 | Andrew Jackson Hamilton | 1850 | Democratic | |
5 | Ebenezer Allen1 | 1850–1852 | Democratic | |
6 | Thomas J. Jennings | 1852–1856 | Democratic | |
7 | James Willie | 1856–1858 | Democratic | |
8 | Malcolm D. Graham | 1858–1860 | Democratic | |
9 | George M. Flournoy | 1860–1862 | Democratic | |
10 | Nathan G. Shelley | 1862–1864 | Democratic | |
11 | Benjamin E. Tarver | 1864–1865 | Democratic | |
12 | William Alexander | 1865–1866 | Unionist | |
13 | File:William M Walton.jpg | William M. Walton | 1866–1867 | Democratic |
14 | Ezekiel B. Turner | 1867–1870 | Unionist | |
15 | William Alexander | 1870–1874 | Republican | |
16 | George W. Clark | 1874–1876 | Democratic | |
17 | Hannibal Boone | 1876–1878 | Democratic | |
18 | George McCormick | 1878–1880 | Democratic | |
19 | James H. McLeary | 1880–1882 | Democratic | |
20 | John D. Templeton | 1882–1886 | Democratic | |
21 | Jim Hogg | 1886–1890 | Democratic | |
22 | Charles Allen Culberson | 1890–1894 | Democratic | |
23 | Martin McNulty Crane | 1894–1898 | Democratic | |
24 | Thomas Slater Smith | 1898–1901 | Democratic | |
25 | Charles K. Bell | 1901–1904 | Democratic | |
26 | Robert V. Davidson | 1904–1910 | Democratic | |
27 | Jewel P. Lightfoot | 1910–1912 | Democratic | |
28 | James D. Walthall | 1912–1913 | Democratic | |
29 | B. F. Looney | 1913–1919 | Democratic | |
30 | Calvin Maples Cureton | 1919–1921 | Democratic | |
31 | Walter Angus Keeling | 1921–1925 | Democratic | |
32 | Dan Moody | 1925–1927 | Democratic | |
33 | Claude Pollard2 | 1927–1929 | Democratic | |
34 | Robert L. Bobbitt3 | 1929–1931 | Democratic | |
35 | James V. Allred | 1931–1935 | Democratic | |
36 | William McCraw | 1935–1939 | Democratic | |
37 | Gerald Mann | 1939–1943 | Democratic | |
38 | Grover Sellers | 1943–1947 | Democratic | |
39 | Price Daniel | 1947–1953 | Democratic | |
40 | John Ben Shepperd | 1953–1957 | Democratic | |
41 | Will Wilson | 1957–1963 | Democratic | |
42 | Waggoner Carr | 1963–1967 | Democratic | |
43 | Crawford Martin | 1967–1972 | Democratic | |
44 | John Hill | 1973–1979 | Democratic | |
45 | Mark White | 1979–1983 | Democratic | |
46 | Jim Mattox | 1983–1991 | Democratic | |
47 | Dan Morales | 1991–1999 | Democratic | |
48 | John Cornyn | 1999–2002 | Republican | |
49 | Greg Abbott | 2002–2015 | Republican | |
50 | Ken Paxton | 2015–present Suspended May 27, 2023 – September 16, 2023 |
Republican |