Michigan Attorney General

Attorney General of the State of Michigan
Seal of the attorney general
Incumbent Dana Nessel since January 1, 2019
Michigan Department of Attorney General
Style	The Honorable
Residence	Private
Appointer	Popular Election
Term length	4 Years, Renewable Once
Inaugural holder	Daniel LeRoy
Formation	1837
Website	www.michigan.gov/ag

The attorney general of the State 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.

“Inasmuch as the office of Attorney General has common law powers as the chief law enforcement officer of the State, [they] may exercise the powers of a peace officer and may appoint special agents having this status to assist [them] in enforcing [their] powers and carrying out [their] functions” (AG Opinion No. 5236,10/20/1977).

Michigan law, MCL 14.32, provides that "[i]t shall be the duty of the attorney general, when required, to give [their] opinion upon all questions of law submitted to [them] 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.

List of attorneys general of Michigan

Attorney General		In office	Political party
	Daniel LeRoy	1836–1837
	Peter Morey	1837–1841	Democratic
	Zephaniah Platt	1841–1843	Whig
	Elon Farnsworth	1843–1845	Democratic
	Henry N. Walker	1845–1847	Democratic
	Edward Mundy	1847–1848	Democratic
	George V. N. Lothrop	1848–1851	Democratic
	William Hale	1851–1855	Democratic
	Jacob M. Howard	1855–1860	Republican
	Charles Upson	1861–1863	Republican
	Albert Williams	1863–1867
	William L. Stoughton	1867–1869	Republican
	Dwight May	1869–1873
	Byron D. Ball	1873–1874	Republican
	Isaac Marston	1874–1875
	Andrew J. Smith	1875–1877
	Otto Kirchner	1877–1881	Republican
	Jacob J. Van Riper	1881–1885
	Moses Taggart	1885–1889	Republican
	Stephen V. R. Trowbridge	1889–1890
	Benjamin W. Huston	1890	Republican
	Adolphus A. Ellis	1891–1895	Democratic
	Fred A. Maynard	1895–1899
	Horace M. Oren	1899–1903
	Charles A. Blair	1903–1905
	John E. Bird	1905–1910
	Franz C. Kuhn	1910–1912	Republican
	Roger I. Wykes	1912	Republican
	Grant Fellows	1913–1917	Republican
	Alex J. Groesbeck	1917–1921	Republican
	Merlin Wiley	1921–1923	Republican
	Andrew B. Dougherty	1923–1926	Republican
	Clare Retan	1926	Republican
	William W. Potter	1927–1929	Republican
	Wilber M. Brucker	1929–1931	Republican
	Paul W. Voorhies	1931–1933	Republican
	Patrick H. O'Brien	1933–1935	Democratic
	Harry S. Toy	1935	Republican
	David H. Crowley	1935–1937	Republican
	Raymond Wesley Starr	1937–1939
	Thomas Read	1939-1940	Republican
	Herbert J. Rushton	1941–1944	Republican
	John R. Dethmers	1945–1946	Republican
	Foss O. Eldred	1946	Republican
	Eugene F. Black	1947–1949	Republican
	Stephen John Roth	1949–1951
	Frank Millard	1951–1955	Republican
	Thomas M. Kavanagh	1955–1957	Democratic
	Paul L. Adams	1957–1961	Democratic
	Frank J. Kelley	1961–1999	Democratic
	Jennifer Granholm	1999–2003	Democratic
	Mike Cox	2003–2011	Republican
	Bill Schuette	2011–2019	Republican
	Dana Nessel	2019–present	Democratic

Source: Michigan Manual 2003-2004, Chapter IV, Former Officials of Michigan

External links

• Michigan Attorney General official website
• Michigan Attorney General articles at ABA Journal
• News and Commentary at FindLaw
• Michigan Compiled Laws at Law.Justia.com
• U.S. Supreme Court Opinions - "Cases with title containing: State of Michigan" at FindLaw
• State Bar of Michigan
• Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel profile at National Association of Attorneys General
• Press releases at Michigan Attorney General