The chief legal officer of the Ohio State in the United States is called the Ohio attorney general. There are general elections every four year to elect for the post of the office. Presently, Nancy H. Rogers is holding the post. The top appellate lawyer in the office of the Attorney General is the Solicitor General of Ohio.
The post of the Ohio attorney general was created in 1846 by statute by the Ohio General Assembly. During that time, the legislature appointed the post of attorney general. But after the second constitution of Ohio in 1851, the post of attorney general became an elected office. The duties of attorney general at that time were made in a general manner.
Presently, the duties of attorney general are to provide the state government with legal advice and also to represent the state in its different legal matters. The other function of the attorney general includes advising the county prosecutors of the state.
The General Assembly passed a decree in 1952, whereby the responsibilities of the Ohio attorney general were increased. This included the trusteeship over different charitable trusts as well as providing legal advice to some other government agencies. The act gave the attorney general power to prosecute persons only after the governor requested him to do so in writing. The term held by the attorney general for the office was also increased to four years from the earlier two years.
The first Ohio attorney general to hold the post was Henry Stanbery from Fairfield from 1846 till 1851. From then 47 more persons have held the post. They include Joseph McCormick, George Ellis Pugh, George W. McCook, Francis D. Kimball, Christopher Wolcott, James Murray, Luman R. Critchfield, William P. Richardson, Chauncey N. Olds, William H. West, Francis Bates Pond, John Little, Isaiah Pillars, George K. Nash, David Hollingsworth, James Lawrence, Jacob A. Kohler, David K. Watson, John K. Richards, Frank S. Monnette, John M. Sheets, Wade H. Ellis, Ulysses G. Denman, Timothy S. Hogan,.
Others holding the post included Edward C. Turner, Joseph McGhee, John G. Price, Charles C. Crabbe, Edward C. Turner, Gilbert Bettman, John W. Bricker, Herbert S. Duffy, Thomas J. Herbert, Hugh S. Jenkins, Herbert S. Duffy, C. William O'Neill, William B. Saxbe, Mark McElroy, William B. Saxbe, Mark McElroy, William B. Saxbe, Paul W. Brown, William J. Brown, Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr., Lee Fisher, Betty D. Montgomery, Jim Petro, Marc Dann, Tom Winters (Interim), and the present attorney general Nancy H. Rogers (Interim).
Ohio Attorney General
