Michigan Attorney General


The Attorney General of Michigan is the fourth-ranking official in the U.S. state of Michigan. The officeholder is elected statewide in the November general election alongside the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, members of the Senate and members of the House of Representatives.
Since the Michigan Constitution of 1963 was adopted, the attorney general has served a term of four years. The officeholder is also limited to two terms, for a total of eight possible years of service; ten possible years of service if the officeholder serves two full terms and less than half of one term as a replacement. Until 1950, the attorney general was appointed by the governor.
Inasmuch as the office of Attorney General has common law powers as the chief law enforcement officer of the State, he may exercise the powers of a peace officer and may appoint special agents having this status to assist him in enforcing his powers and carrying out his functions.
Michigan law, MCL 14.32, provides that "t shall be the duty of the attorney general, when required, to give his opinion upon all questions of law submitted to him by the legislature, or by either branch thereof, or by the governor, auditor general, treasurer or any other state officer...."
Michigan's current attorney general is Democrat Dana Nessel, who was elected in November 2018, and sworn into office on January 1, 2019.

Courtesy title

The attorney general traditionally receives the courtesy title of The Honorable for life.
Attorney GeneralIn officePolitical Party
Daniel LeRoy1836–1837
Peter Morey1837–1841Democratic
Zephaniah Platt1841–1843Whig
Elon Farnsworth1843–1845Democratic
Henry N. Walker1845–1847Democratic
Edward Mundy1847–1848Democratic
George V. N. Lothrop1848–1851Democratic
William Hale1851–1855Democratic
Jacob M. Howard1855–1860Republican
Charles Upson1861–1863Republican
Albert Williams1863–1867
William L. Stoughton1867–1869Republican
Dwight May1869–1873
Byron D. Ball1873–1874Republican
Isaac Marston1874–1875
Andrew J. Smith1875–1877
Otto Kirchner1877–1881Republican
Jacob J. Van Riper1881–1885
Moses Taggart1885–1889Republican
Stephen V. R. Trowbridge1889–1890
Benjamin W. Huston1890Republican
Adolphus A. Ellis1891–1895Democratic
Fred A. Maynard1895–1899
Horace M. Oren1899–1903
Charles A. Blair1903–1905
John E. Bird1905–1910
Franz C. Kuhn1910–1912Republican
Roger I. Wykes1912Republican
Grant Fellows1913–1917Republican
Alex J. Groesbeck1917–1921Republican
Merlin Wiley1921–1923Republican
Andrew B. Dougherty1923–1926Republican
Clare Retan1926Republican
William W. Potter1927–1929Republican
Wilber M. Brucker1929–1931Republican
Paul W. Voorhies1931–1933Republican
Patrick H. O’Brien1933–1935Democratic
Harry S. Toy1935Republican
David H. Crowley1935–1937Republican
Raymond Wesley Starr1937–1939
Thomas Read1939-1940Republican
Herbert J. Rushton1941–1944Republican
John R. Dethmers1945–1946Republican
Foss O. Eldred1946Republican
Eugene F. Black1947–1949Republican
Stephen John Roth1949–1951
Frank Millard1951–1955Republican
Thomas M. Kavanagh1955–1957Democratic
Paul L. Adams1957–1961Democratic
Frank J. Kelley1961–1999Democratic
Jennifer Granholm1999–2003Democratic
Mike Cox2003–2011Republican
Bill Schuette2011–2019Republican
Dana Nessel2019-Democratic

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