The Attorney General of Maryland is the chief legal officer

Chief Legal Officer

A chief legal officer is the highest-ranking corporate officer concerning legal affairs of a corporation or agency. Chief legal officers typically hold the title of general counsel.- Skill requirements :...

 of the State of Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and is elected by the people every four years with no term limits. To run for the office a person must be a citizen of and qualified voter in Maryland and must have resided and practiced law in the state for at least ten years.

The Attorney General has general charge, supervision and direction of the legal business of the State. He or she is the legal advisor and representative of the Governor

Governor of Maryland

The Governor of Maryland heads the executive branch of the government of Maryland, and he is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state, and he has a broad range of appointive powers in both the State and local governments,...

, the General Assembly

Maryland General Assembly

The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is a bicameral body. The upper chamber, the Maryland State Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber, the Maryland House of Delegates, has 141 representatives...

, the Judiciary

Maryland Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals of Maryland is the supreme court of the U.S. state of Maryland. The court, which is composed of one chief judge and six associate judges, meets in the Robert C. Murphy Courts of Appeal Building in the state capital, Annapolis...

, and the major departments, various boards, commissions, officials and institutions of State Government. The Office further represents the State in all cases pending in the Appellate Courts of the State, and in the United States Supreme Court and lower Federal Courts.

As of 2010, the attorney general is Doug Gansler

Doug Gansler

Douglas F. "Doug" Gansler is a Maryland politician and Attorney General of Maryland. Gansler won the Democratic nomination in the primary election on September 12, 2006, and beat Republican Scott Rolle in the general election on November 7, 2006...

.

Chronological list of Attorneys General of Maryland

Name	From	To	Party
James Tilghman James Tilghman James Tilghman was a prominent lawyer and public servant in colonial Maryland and Pennsylvania.The fourth son of Colonel Richard Tilghman and Anna Maria Lloyd, he was born at his family's estate, the Hermitage, on the Chester River in Talbot County on Maryland's Eastern Shore...	1777	1778
Luther Martin Luther Martin Luther Martin was a politician and one of United States' Founding Fathers, who refused to sign the Constitution because he felt it violated states' rights...	1778	1805
William Pinkney William Pinkney William Pinkney was an American statesman and diplomat, and the seventh U.S. Attorney General.-Biography:Born in Annapolis, Maryland, Pinkney studied medicine and law, becoming a lawyer after his admission to the bar in 1786...	1805	1806	Democratic-Republican
John Thomson Mason	1806	1806
John Johnson	1806	1811
John Montgomery John Montgomery (Maryland politician) John Montgomery was an American lawyer from Baltimore, Maryland. He represented the sixth district of Maryland in the U.S. Congress from 1807 until 1811, and later served as the Attorney General of Maryland and Mayor of Baltimore .-References:...	1811	1818	Democratic-Republican
Luther Martin Luther Martin Luther Martin was a politician and one of United States' Founding Fathers, who refused to sign the Constitution because he felt it violated states' rights...	1818	1822
Thomas Beale Dorsey	1822	1824
Thomas Kell	1824	1827
Roger B. Taney Roger B. Taney Roger Brooke Taney was the fifth Chief Justice of the United States, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 1864. He was the first Roman Catholic to hold that office or sit on the Supreme Court of the United States. He was also the eleventh United States Attorney General. He is most...	1827	1831	Federalist
Josiah Bayly	1831	1846	Federalist
George R. Richardson	1846	1851
Robert J. Brent	1851	1851	Whig
Alexander Randall Alexander Randall (Maryland) Alexander Randall was a U.S. Representative from Maryland.Born in Annapolis, Maryland, Randall was educated under private tutors. He graduated from St...	1864	1867	Whig
Isaac Dashiell Jones Isaac Dashiell Jones Isaac Dashiell Jones was a U.S. Congressman from Maryland, serving from 1841 to 1843.Born on the family homestead Wetipquin in Somerset County, Maryland, Jones completed preparatory studies and graduated from Washington Academy, where he became assistant tutor before his studies were completed...	1867	1871	Whig
Andrew K. Syester	1871	1875	Whig
Charles J. M. Gwinn	1875	1883	Democrat
Charles Boyle Roberts Charles Boyle Roberts Charles Boyle Roberts was a U.S. Congressman from Maryland, serving the second district from 1875 to 1879....	1883	1887	Democrat
William Pinkney Whyte William Pinkney Whyte William Pinkney Whyte , a member of the United States Democratic Party, was a politician who served the State of Maryland as a State Delegate, the State Comptroller, a United States Senator, the 35th Governor, the Mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, and the State Attorney General.-Early life and...	1887	1891	Democrat
John Prentiss Poe	1891	1895	Democrat
Harry M. Clabaugh Harry M. Clabaugh Harry M. Clabaugh was a United States federal judge.Born in Cumberland, Maryland, Clabaugh received an LL.B. from the University of Maryland in 1878. He was in private practice in Baltimore, Maryland from 1878 to 1880, and in Carroll County, Maryland from 1880 to 1904. He was a Chairman of the...	1895	1899	Republican
George Riggs Gaither, Jr.	1899	1899	Republican
Isidor Rayner Isidor Rayner Isidor Rayner was a Democratic member of the United States Senate, representing the State of Maryland from 1905-1912. He also represented the Fourth Congressional District of Maryland from 1887 to 1889, and 1891 to 1895....	1899	1903	Democrat
William Shepard Bryan, Jr.	1903	1907	Democrat
Isaac Lobe Straus	1907	1911	Democrat
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (Maryland Attorney General) Edgar Allan Poe was Attorney General of the State of Maryland from 1911 to 1915. He was born in Baltimore, the son of former Maryland Attorney General John Prentiss Poe. He was named for his second cousin, twice removed, the celebrated author Edgar Allan Poe, who died in 1849.Poe attended...	1911	1915	Democrat
Albert C. Ritchie	1915	1919	Democrat
Ogle Marbury Ogle Marbury Ogle Marbury was an American jurist who served as Chief Judge of the supreme court of the U.S. state of Maryland, the Court of Appeals....  (acting)	1918	1919	Democrat
Alexander Armstrong	1919	1923	Republican
Thomas H. Robinson	1923	1930	Democrat
William Preston Lane, Jr. William Preston Lane, Jr. William Preston Lane, Jr. was the 52nd Governor of Maryland in the United States from 1947 to 1951.-Early life and career:...	1930	1934	Democrat
Herbert R. O'Conor	1934	1938	Democrat
William C. Walsh	1938	1945	Democrat
William Curran William Curran (Maryland) William Curran was a Democratic politician from Baltimore, Maryland. He served as delegate to the Democratic National Convention from Maryland in 1924 and 1944, and as Attorney General of Maryland from 1945-1946.-References:...	1945	1946	Democrat
Hall Hammond Hall Hammond Hall Hammond was an American jurist and politician who served as Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals and Attorney General for the state of Maryland....	1946	1952	Democrat
Edward D. E. Rollins	1952	1954	Republican
C. Ferdinand Sybert	1954	1961	Democrat
Thomas B. Finan	1961	1966	Democrat
Robert C. Murphy Robert C. Murphy Robert C. Murphy was a lawyer and jurist from Baltimore County, Maryland. He served as Chief Judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, from 1972 to October 1996...	1966	1966	Democrat
Francis B. Burch Francis B. Burch Francis B. Burch, was an American politician who served as the Attorney General for the state of Maryland from 1966 until 1978.-Education:Burch, the son of L...	1966	1978	Democrat
Jon F. Oster	1979	1979
George A. Nilson	1979	1979
Stephen H. Sachs Stephen H. Sachs Stephen H. Sachs is a former Maryland politician and former Attorney General of Maryland.- Background :Sachs was born in Baltimore City, the son of Shirley and Leon Sachs. He is Jewish. Sachs was educated at Haverford College and Yale Law School...	1979	1987	Democrat
J. Joseph Curran, Jr. J. Joseph Curran, Jr. J. Joseph Curran, Jr. is an American politician and the longest serving elected Attorney General in Maryland history. His son-in-law, Martin J. O'Malley, is the Governor of Maryland.-Background:...	1987	2007	Democrat
Doug Gansler Doug Gansler Douglas F. "Doug" Gansler is a Maryland politician and Attorney General of Maryland. Gansler won the Democratic nomination in the primary election on September 12, 2006, and beat Republican Scott Rolle in the general election on November 7, 2006...	2007		Democrat

External links

• Office of the Attorney General