Attorney General of Wisconsin: Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|WikimediaChief listlaw articleofficer of the state of Wisconsin}}

| post = Attorney General

| body = Wisconsin

| insignia =Privy File:Seal of the Wisconsin Attorney General.svgpng

| insigniasize =110px 180px

| insigniacaption = Seal of the Executiveattorney general of BranchWisconsin

| image = Attorney Josh Kaul.jpg

| imagesize =

| incumbent = [[Josh Kaul]]

| incumbentsince = January 7, 2019

The '''Attorneyattorney Generalgeneral of Wisconsin''' is a constitutional officer in the [[executive branch]] of the [[government of Wisconsin|government]] of the [[U.S. state]] of [[Wisconsin]]. Forty-five individuals have held the office of Attorneyattorney Generalgeneral since statehood. The incumbent is [[Josh Kaul]], a Democrat.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.doj.state.wi.us/professional-profiles|title = Executive Profiles &#124; Wisconsin Department of Justice}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.joshkaul.org/|title=Kaul for Attorney General|date=April 4, 2023|website=Kaul for Attorney General}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wisdems.org/our-party/constitutional-offices|title = Constitutional Offices}}</ref>

The Attorneyattorney Generalgeneral is elected on [[Election Day (United States)|Election Day]] in November, and takes office on the first Monday of the next January.<ref name="article13">{{cite book |editor-last=Barish |editor-first=Lawrence S. (ed.) |title=State of Wisconsin Blue Book 2007&ndash;2008 |year=2007 |url=http://www.legis.wisconsin/gov/lrb/bb/07bb/ |format=PDF |accessdateaccess-date=2008-05-10 |publisher=Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau |location=Madison, Wisconsin |isbn=978-0-9752820-2-1 |chapter=Chapter 3: Wisconsin Constitution (Article XIII) |chapterurlchapter-url=http://www.legis.wisconsin.gov/lrb/bb/07bb/constitution.htm |page=234 }}{{Dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }}</ref> There is no [[term limit|limit]] to the number of terms an Attorneyattorney Generalgeneral may hold. From 1848 to 1968, the Attorneyattorney Generalgeneral was elected to a two-year term in the November general election. Since 1970, following ratification of a constitutional amendment in April 1967, the Attorneyattorney Generalgeneral has been elected to a four-year term.

In the event of a vacancy in the office of the Attorneyattorney Generalgeneral, the [[Governorgovernor of Wisconsin]] may appoint a replacement to fill the remainder of the term. The Attorneyattorney Generalgeneral may be removed from office through an [[Impeachment in Wisconsin|impeachment]] [[Impeachment trial|trial]].<ref name="article7">{{cite book |editor-last=Barish |editor-first=Lawrence S. (ed.) |title=State of Wisconsin Blue Book 2007&ndash;2008 |year=2007 |url=http://www.legis.wisconsin/gov/lrb/bb/07bb/ |format=PDF |accessdateaccess-date=2008-05-10 |publisher=Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau |location=Madison, Wisconsin |isbn=978-0-9752820-2-1 |chapter=Chapter 3: Wisconsin Constitution (Article VII) |chapterurlchapter-url=http://www.legis.wisconsin.gov/lrb/bb/07bb/constitution.htm |page=218 }}{{Dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }}</ref> They may also choose to resign from office.

The Attorneyattorney Generalgeneral is the chief law officer of the state of [[Wisconsin]], and amongst other duties has charge and conduct for the state of all suits instituted for and against the government thereof, certifies all bonds issued by the state, protects the School Trust Funds managed by the [[Wisconsin Board of Commissioners of Public Lands]], and provides written opinions on questions of law to either house of the [[Wisconsin Legislature]] or the head of any state agency.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/165/|title = Wisconsin Legislature: Chapter 165}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2013/related/wiscon/wi/VI/3|title=Wisconsin Legislature: VI,3|website=docs.legis.wisconsin.gov}}</ref> By virtue of office, the Attorneyattorney Generalgeneral directs and supervises the Wisconsin Department of Justice.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.doj.state.wi.us/|title=Wisconsin Department of Justice &#124; WisDOJ}}</ref> In accordance ofwith Article X, Section 7 of the Wisconsin State Constitution, the Attorneyattorney Generalgeneral is a member of the [[Wisconsin Board of Commissioners of Public Lands]]; the same is also a member of -, or designates members to -, the Claims Board, Crime Victims Rights Board, Group Insurance Board, Joint Survey Committee on Tax Exemptions, Judicial Council, Law Enforcement Standards Board, Public Records Board, and the Board of Directors of the Insurance Security Fund.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/15/II/255/1/a/6|title=Wisconsin Legislature: 15.255(1)(a)6.|website=docs.legis.wisconsin.gov}}</ref><ref>http{{Cite web|url=https://claimsboard.wi.gov/Pages/home.aspx|title=Claims Board Home|website=claimsboard.wi.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wilifega.org/|title=Wisconsin Insurance Security Fund - Welcome|website=www.wilifega.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2011/related/wiscon/_20|title = Wisconsin Legislature: ARTICLE X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2019/committees/joint/1974|title = 2019 Joint Survey Committee on Tax Exemptions}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://etf.wi.gov/about-etf/governing-boards/group-insurance-board|title = Group Insurance Board}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wilawlibrary.gov/judicialcouncil/index.htm|title = Wisconsin Judicial Council}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://publicrecordsboard.wi.gov/Pages/home.aspx|title = Public Records Board Home}}</ref>

==List of Attorneysattorneys Generalgeneral of Wisconsin==

|+Number of Attorneysattorneys Generalgeneral of Wisconsin by party affiliation

|- {{party shading/Progressive (Wisconsin)}}

===Attorneys General of the Wisconsin Territory===

Before statehood, the [[Wisconsin Territory]] also had several attorneys general appointed by the governor of the territory.<ref>[{{Cite web|url=http://www.usgennet.org/usa/wi/state/wihist-2.htm Wisconsin Territory] {{webarchive|urlarchiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012083614/http://www.usgennet.org/usa/wi/state/wihist-2.htm|title=Wisconsin Territory|datearchivedate=2008-10-October 12, 2008}}</ref>

===Attorneys General of the State of Wisconsin===

| [[File:James S.Sproat Brown]]<br /><small> (1824-18783x4a) </small>.png|60px]]

| June 7, 1848<ref name="bluebook1929">{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=William J. |editor=William A. Anderson |title=The Wisconsin blue book, 1929 |year=1929 |url=http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/WI/WI-idx?type=header&id=WI.WIBlueBk1929&isize=M |accessdateaccess-date=2008-05-08 |publisher=Democrat Printing Company |location=Madison, Wisconsin |page=152}}</ref>

| [[S. Park Coon]]<br /><small> (1820-18831820–1883)</small>

| [[File:Experience Estabrook]]<br /><small> (1813-1894Nebraska Congressman)</small>.jpg|60px]]

| [[File:George Baldwin Smith.png|60px]]<br /><small> (1823-1879)</small>

| [[File:William Rudolph Smith.png|60px]]<br /><small> (1787-1868)</small>

| [[James Henry Howe]]<ref group="note" name="resigned">Resigned from office.</ref><br /><small> (1827-18931827–1893)</small>

| October 7, 1862<ref name="bluebook1929" /><ref name="bluebook2007">{{cite book|editor-last=Barish |editor-first=Lawrence S. (ed.) |title=State of Wisconsin Blue Book 2007&ndash;2008 |url=http://www.legis.wisconsin.gov/lrb/bb/07bb/ |format=PDF |year=2007 |location=Madison, Wisconsin |publisher=Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau |chapter=Chapter 8: Statistical Information on Wisconsin |chapterurlchapter-url=http://www.legis.wisconsin.gov/lrb/bb/07bb/statistics.htm |pages=722&ndash;724 |isbn=978-0-9752820-2-1 |accessdateaccess-date=2008-05-08 |url-status=dead |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811080930/http://legis.wisconsin.gov/lrb/bb/07bb/ |archivedatearchive-date=2011-08-11 }}</ref>

| [[File:Winfield Smith.png|60px]]
| [[Winfield Smith]]<ref group="note" name="appointed">Appointed to fill unexpired term.</ref><br /><small> (1827-18991827–1899)</small>

| [[File:Charles R. Gill.png|60px]]<br /><small> (1830-1883)</small>

|- {{Party shading/Liberal Republican}}

| [[A.File:Andrew Scott Sloan]]<br /><small> (1820-1895Wisconsin Congressman)</small>.jpg|60px]]

| Liberal Republican

| [[Alexander Wilson (Wisconsin politician)|Alexander Wilson]]<br /><small> (1833-18881833–1888)</small>

| [[File:Leander F. Frisby.png|60px]]
| [[Leander F. Frisby]]{{#tag:ref|Some sources record Leander Frisby's surname as "Frisbie".<ref name="bluebook1929" />|group="note"}}<br /><small> (1825-18891825–1889)</small>

| [[File:Charles E.Edward Estabrook.png|60px]]<br /><small> (1847-1918)</small>

| [[File:Levi H.Horace Bancroft.png|60px]]<br /><small> (1861-1948)</small>

| [[File:Judge Walter C. Owen.png|60px]]
| [[Walter C. Owen]]<ref group="note" name="resigned" /><br /><small> (1868-19341868–1934)</small>

| [[Spencer Haven]]<ref group="note" name="appointed" /><br /><small> (1868-19381868–1938)</small>

| [[File:John J. Blaine]]<br /><small>Bain (1875-1934)</small>crop.jpg|60px]]

| [[File:William J Morgan.png|60px]]
| [[William J. Morgan (Wisconsin politician)|William J. Morgan]]<br /><small> (1883-19831883–1983)</small>

| [[File:Herman L. Ekern]]<br /><small> (1872-1954WI)</small>.jpg|60px]]

| [[File:James E. Finnegan]]<br /><small> (1892-1966WI)</small>.png|60px]]

| January 2, 1933<ref name="wisjournal1933">{{cite news |title=Governor Takes Oath Amid Cheers of 5,000 |work=Wisconsin State Journal |date=January 3, 1933 |page=1 |location=Madison, Wisconsin |url=httphttps://0-accesswww.newspaperarchive.com.topcat.switchinc.org/Viewer.aspx?img=99852035 |format=PDF |accessdateaccess-date=2010-04-21}}</ref>

|- {{Party shading/Progressive (Wisconsin)}}

| [[File:Orland Steen Loomis]]<br /><small> (1893Wisconsin governor-1942elect)</small>.jpg|60px]]

| January 4, 1937<ref name="dailynorthwestern1937">{{cite news |title=New Administrations Started |work=Oshkosh Daily Northwestern |date=January 4, 1937 |page=6 |location=Oshkosh, Wisconsin |url=httphttps://0-accesswww.newspaperarchive.com.topcat.switchinc.org/Viewer.aspx?img=7578853 |format=PDF |accessdateaccess-date=2010-04-21}}</ref>

| [[File:John E. Martin]]<ref group="note" name="resigned" /><br /><small> (1891-1968)</small> (8254108492) (1).jpg|60px]]

| January 2, 1939<ref name="sheboygan1939">{{cite news |title=Gov. Julius P. Heil Takes Office |work=The Sheboygan Press |date=January 2, 1939 |page=1 |location=Sheboygan, Wisconsin |url=httphttps://0-accesswww.newspaperarchive.com.topcat.switchinc.org/Viewer.aspx?img=8716084 |format=PDF |accessdateaccess-date=2010-04-21}}</ref>

|colspan="34"| ''vacant''

| [[File:Thomas E. Fairchild]]<ref group="note" name="appointed" /><br /><small>(WI) (1912-20073x4a)</small>.png|60px]]

| [[File:Vernon W.Wallace Thomson]]<br /><small> (1905-1988)</small> (8276634634) (1).jpg|60px]]

| January 1, 1951<ref name="wisjournal1951">{{cite news |title=Highlights of Inauguration Ceremony as Five State Republican Officials Take Oaths in Capitol |work=Wisconsin State Journal |date=January 2, 1951 |page=2 |location=Madison, Wisconsin |url=httphttps://0-accesswww.newspaperarchive.com.topcat.switchinc.org/Viewer.aspx?img=99989278 |format=PDF |accessdateaccess-date=2010-04-21}}</ref>

| [[File:Stewart G. Honeck]]<br /><small> (1906-1999WI)</small>.png|60px]]

| January 7, 1957<ref name="dailyjournal1957">{{cite news |title=Thomson Takes Oath, Pledges Common Sense |work=Stevens Point Daily Journal |date=January 7, 1957 |page=1 |location=Stevens Point, Wisconsin |url=httphttps://accesswww.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=7195629 |format=PDF |accessdateaccess-date=2010-04-21}}</ref>

| [[File:John W. Reynolds, Jr.]]<br /><small> (1921-2002WI)</small>.png|60px]]

| January 5, 1959<ref name="dailyjournal1959">{{cite news |title=Gaylord Nelson Becomes State's 34th Governor |work=Stevens Point Daily Journal |date=January 5, 1959 |page=1 |location=Stevens Point, Wisconsin |url=httphttps://accesswww.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=43361 |format=PDF |accessdateaccess-date=2010-04-21}}</ref>

| [[File:George Thompson (WI).png|60px]]
| [[George Thompson (Wisconsin politician)|George Thompson]]<br /><small> (1918-19921918–1992)</small>

| January 7, 1963<ref name="northwestern1963">{{cite news |title=Reynolds Calls for Unity At Inaugural Ceremonies |work=Oshkosh Daily Northwestern |date=January 7, 1963 |page=1 |location=Oshkosh, Wisconsin |url=httphttps://accesswww.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=17738968n |format=PDF |accessdateaccess-date=2010-04-21}}</ref>

| [[File:Bronson La Follette]]<br /><small>(WI) (1936-2018cropped)</small>.jpg|60px]]

| January 4, 1965<ref name="wisjournal1965">{{cite news |title=Knowles Seeks State's Aid in Move Forward |work=Wisconsin State Journal |date=January 5, 1965 |page=1 |location=Madison, Wisconsin |url=httphttps://accesswww.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=103358189 |format=PDF |accessdateaccess-date=2010-04-21}}</ref>

| [[File:Robert W. Warren (WI).png|60px]]
| [[Robert W. Warren]]<ref group="note" name="resigned" /><br /><small> (1925-19981925–1998)</small>

| January 6, 1969<ref name="heraldtimes1969">{{cite news |title=Knowles Stresses Need for Priorities |work=Manitowoc Herald Times |date=January 6, 1969 |page=1 |location=Manitowoc, Wisconsin |url=httphttps://accesswww.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=17096116 |format=PDF |accessdateaccess-date=2010-04-21}}</ref>

| [[File:Bronson La Follette]]<ref group="note" name="appointed" /><br /><small>(WI) (1936-2018cropped)</small>.jpg|60px]]

| [[File:Don Hanaway]]<br /><small> (1933-1995WI)</small>.png|60px]]

| January 7, 1991<ref name="dailyglobe1991">{{cite news |title=Thompson takes oath, praises school choice |work=Ironwood Daily Globe |date=January 8, 1991 |page=7 |location=Ironwood, Michigan |url=httphttps://accesswww.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=153641549 |format=PDF |accessdateaccess-date=2010-04-21}}</ref>

| [[PeggyFile:Peg Lautenschlager Headshot.jpg|60px]]<br /><small> (1955-2018)</small>

| colspan="56" style="text-align: center;" | '''Notes:''' {{reflist|group="note"}}

[[Category:Wisconsin Attorneysattorneys Generalgeneral| ]]