Attorney General of Wisconsin

Wisconsin Attorney General
General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
2013 FY Budget:	$89,449,400
Term limits:	None
Structure
Length of term:	4 years
Authority:	Wisconsin State Code, Chapter 15.25
Selection Method:	Elected
Current Officeholder
Name:	J.B. Van Hollen
Officeholder Party:	Republican
Assumed office:	January 1, 2007
Compensation:	$140,147
Elections
Next election:	November 4, 2014
Last election:	November 2, 2010
Other Wisconsin Executive Offices
Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Auditor • Superintendent of Education • Agriculture Commissioner • Insurance Commissioner • Natural Resources Commissioner • Labor Commissioner • Public Service Commission

The Attorney General of Wisconsin is an elected position in the Wisconsin state government. The attorney general is the head of the state Department of Justice and the chief legal officer for the state. He or she provides legal advice and representation for all state agencies.

Current officeholder

The current officeholder is J.B. Van Hollen. He was first elected in 2006 and re-elected in 2010.

Authority

The attorney general's office is authorized by Chapter 15.25 of the Wisconsin state code.

Chapter 15.25:

Department of justice; creation. There is created a department of justice under the direction and supervision of the attorney general.

Qualifications

There are no formal qualifications to hold this office.

Elections

According to Article 6 of the state constitution, the attorney general is elected every four years, in mid-term election years, to a four-year term. In Wisconsin, the attorney general is elected in 2010, 2014, and 2018.

Vacancies

Chapter 17.19(4) of the Wisconsin state code addresses vacancies in the office of attorney general. In the event of a vacancy for any reason, the governor shall appoint a successor to serve until a special election can be held. If no such election is held, the appointee holds office for the remainder of the unexpired term.

Duties

The department of justice provides legal advice and representation for various state officers and agencies in civil cases and criminal cases in the state's appellate courts.

The specific duties of the attorney general are outlined in Chapter 165.015 of the Wisconsin state code.

Chapter 165.015 - Duties. The attorney general shall:

1. Give opinion to officers. Give his or her opinion in writing, when required, without fee, upon all questions of law submitted to him or her by the legislature, either house thereof or the senate or assembly committee on organization, or by the head of any department of state government.
2. Protect trust funds. Examine all applications for loans from any of the trust funds, and furnish to the commissioners of public lands his or her opinion in writing as to the regularity of each such application, and also of the validity of any bonds or other securities purchased for the benefit of such funds.
3. Certify bonds. Examine a certified copy of all proceedings preliminary to any issue of state bonds or notes, and, if found regular and valid, endorse on each bond or note his or her certificate of such examination and validity. The attorney general shall also make similar examinations and certificates respecting municipal bonds in the cases specified in s. 67.025.
4. Keep statement of fees. Keep a detailed statement of all fees, including his or her fees as commissioner of public lands, received by him or her during the preceding year, and file such statement with the department of administration on or before June 30 in each year.
5. Report to legislature. Upon request of the legislature or either house thereof, submit a report upon any matters pertaining to the duties of his or her office to the chief clerk of each house of the legislature, for distribution to the legislature under s. 13.172 (2).
6. Perform other duties. Perform all other duties imposed upon the attorney general by law.

Divisions

The office of the attorney general is divided into four divisions and one office:

• The Division of Criminal Investigation investigates crimes that are statewide in nature or of particular import.
• The Division of Law Enforcement Services provides technical assistance and training to state and local law enforcement agencies.
• The Division of Legal Services provides legal advice and representation to the governor, state legislature, other state officers and agencies, district attorneys, and county corporation counsels. The following specialized legal units are housed in this division:

• Civil litigation
• Criminal appeals
• Criminal litigation, antitrust, consumer protection, and public integrity
• Employment
• Environmental protection
• State programs, administration & revenue
• Medicaid fraud control and elder abuse unit

• The Division of Management Services provides operational support to the department.
• The Office of Crime Victim Services provides assistance to victims and witnesses of crimes.

State budget

The budget for the Department of Justice in Fiscal Year 2013 was $89,449,400.

Compensation

See also: Compensation of state executive officers

In 2012, the Wisconsin Attorney General was paid an estimated $140,147. This figure comes from the Council of State Governments.

Former officeholders

Since 1848, Wisconsin has had 42 attorneys general. Bronson C. LaFollette served twice, non-consecutively.

Click "show" for former officeholders.

#	Name	Took office	Left office	Party
1	James S. Brown	1848	1850	Democratic
2	S. Park Coon	1850	1852	Democratic
3	Experience Estabrook	1852	1854	Democratic
4	George B. Smith	1854	1856	Democratic
5	William R. Smith	1856	1858	Democratic
6	Gabriel Bouck	1858	1860	Democratic
7	James H. Howe	1860	1862	Republican
8	Winfield Smith	1862	1866	Republican
9	Charles R. Gill	1866	1870	Republican
10	Stephen Steele Barlow	1870	1874	Republican
11	Andrew Scott Sloan	1874	1878	Republican
12	Alexander Wilson	1878	1882	Republican
13	Leander F. Frisby	1882	1887	Republican
14	Charles E. Estabrook	1887	1891	Republican
15	James L. O'Connor	1891	1895	Democratic
16	William H. Mylrea	1895	1899	Republican
17	Emmett R. Hicks	1899	1903	Republican
18	Lafayette M. Sturdevant	1903	1907	Republican
19	Frank L. Gilbert	1907	1911	Republican
20	Levi H. Bancroft	1911	1913	Republican
21	Walter C. Owen	1913	1918	Republican
22	Spencer Haven	1918	1919	Republican
23	John J. Blaine	1919	1921	Republican
24	William J. Morgan	1921	1923	Republican
25	Herman L. Ekern	1923	1927	Republican
26	John W. Reynolds	1927	1933	Republican
27	James E. Finnegan	1933	1937	Democratic
28	Orlando S. Loomis	1937	1939	Progressive
29	John E. Martin	1939	June 1, 1948	Republican
30	Grover L. Broadfoot	June 5, 1948	November 12, 1948	Republican
31	Thomas E. Fairchild	November 12, 1948	1951	Democratic
32	Vernon W. Thomson	1951	1957	Republican
33	Stewart G. Honeck	1957	1959	Republican
34	John W. Reynolds	1958	1963	Democratic
35	George Thompson	1963	1965	Republican
36	Bronson C. LaFollette	1965	1969	Democratic
37	Robert W. Warren	1969	October 8, 1974	Republican
38	Victor A. Miller	October 8, 1974	November 25, 1974	Democratic
39	Bronson C. LaFollette	November 25, 1974	1987	Democratic
40	Donald J. Hanaway	1987	1991	Republican
41	James E. Doyle	1991	2002	Democratic
42	Peg A. Lautenschlager	2002	2006	Democratic
43	J.B. Van Hollen	2006	present	Republican

Contact Information

Wisconsin Department of Justice
P.O. Box 7857
Madison, WI 53707-7857

Phone: 608-266-1221
Fax: 608-267-2779

See also

• J.B. Van Hollen, Attorney General of Wisconsin
• Governor of Wisconsin
• Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
• Wisconsin Secretary of State

External links

Suggest a link

• Office of the Wisconsin Attorney General
• National Association of Attorneys General