Attorney General of New York

The attorney general of New York is the state attorney general of the U.S. state of New York and is the head of the New York Department of Law. The attorney general is also the highest-paid state attorney general in the country.

Attorney General of New York
100px Seal of the State of New York
File:Flag of New York.svg Flag of the State of New York
File:Letitia James Interview Feb 2020.png Incumbent Letitia James since January 1, 2019
New York Department of Law
Style	Madam Attorney General The Honorable
Term length	Four years, no term limit
Constituting instrument	New York Constitution of 1777
Formation	1777
First holder	Egbert Benson
Salary	$210,000 (2019)
Website	ag.ny.gov

Letitia James is the current attorney general of New York, in office since January 2019.

Duties

The attorney general advises the executive branch of state government and defends actions and proceedings in the state.

The Department of Law are divided into five major divisions such as, Appeals and Opinions, State Counsel, Criminal Justice, Economic Justice and Social Justice.

Province of New York (1684–1776)

Image	Attorney general	Tenure		Notes
		Took office	Left office
	Thomas Rudyard	1684	December 1685	Appointed by Gov. Thomas Dongan
	James Graham	10 December 1685	1688	Afterwards attorney general of Dominion of New England, 1688.
60px	Member of Dominion of New England, May 1668 – April 1689
	Jacob Milborne	1690	1691	Hanged for treason, 1691
	Thomas Newton	1691	April 1691	Removed from office by governor
	George Farewell	1691	1692	(Acting) Removed from office by governor
	James Graham	June 1692	21 January 1701	Died 27 January 1701
	Sampson Shelton Broughton	5 April 1701		Died February 1705
	John Rayner	12 July 1708		Absent in England. Died 1719.
	May Bickley	1708	1712	Acting AG in Rayner's absence. Removed from office by governor, 1712
	David Jamison	10 June 1712	1721	Acting AG in Rayner's absence, 1712–20
60px	James Alexander	1721	1723
	Richard Bradley	1723	28 August 1752
60px	William Smith the elder	August 1752
	William Kempe	November 1752	19 July 1759
	John Tabor Kempe	1759	c. 1783
60px	James Duane	1767		Acting AG in Kempe's absence.

New York State (1777–present)

Image	Attorney general	Tenure	Party	Notes
60px	Egbert Benson	May 8, 1777 – May 14, 1788
File:Richard Varick (1753-1831) 1982 15.jpeg	Richard Varick	May 14, 1788 – September 29, 1789	Federalist
File:Aaron Burr-2.jpg	Aaron Burr	September 29, 1789 – November 8, 1791	Dem.-Rep.	Third vice president of the United States
60px	Morgan Lewis	November 8, 1791 – December 24, 1792	Dem.-Rep.
60px	Nathaniel Lawrence	December 24, 1792 – November 13, 1795	Dem.-Rep.
60px	Josiah Ogden Hoffman	November 13, 1795 – February 3, 1802	Federalist
60px	Ambrose Spencer	February 3, 1802 – February 3, 1804	Dem.-Rep.
	John Woodworth	February 3, 1804 – March 18, 1808	Dem.-Rep.
	Matthias B. Hildreth	March 18, 1808 – February 2, 1810	Dem.-Rep.
60px	Abraham Van Vechten	February 2, 1810 – February 1, 1811	Federalist
	Matthias B. Hildreth	February 1, 1811 – July 11, 1812	Dem.-Rep.	Died in office
60px	Thomas Addis Emmet	August 12, 1812 – February 13, 1813	Dem.-Rep.
60px	Abraham Van Vechten	February 13, 1813 – February 17, 1815	Federalist
60px	Martin Van Buren	February 17, 1815 – July 8, 1819	Dem.-Rep.	Eighth president of the United States
60px	Thomas Jackson Oakley	July 8, 1819 – February 12, 1821	Federalist
	Samuel A. Talcott	February 12, 1821 – January 27, 1829	Dem.-Rep.	First appointed, in 1823 elected by State Legislature, resigned shortly before the end of his second term
60px	Greene C. Bronson	January 27, 1829 – January 12, 1836	Democratic	Elected a justice of the State Supreme Court during his third term
60px	Samuel Beardsley	January 12, 1836 – February 4, 1839	Democratic
	Willis Hall	February 4, 1839 – February 7, 1842	Whig
60px	George P. Barker	February 7, 1842 – February 3, 1845	Democratic
60px	John Van Buren	February 3, 1845 – January 1, 1848	Democratic	Legislated out of office by the Constitution of 1846
60px	Ambrose L. Jordan	January 1, 1848 – December 31, 1849	Whig	First attorney general elected by general ballot
	Levi S. Chatfield	January 1, 1850 – November 23, 1853	Democratic	Resigned shortly before the end of his second term
60px	Gardner Stow	December 8, 1853 – December 31, 1853	Democratic	Appointed to fill the unexpired term
60px	Ogden Hoffman	January 1, 1854 – December 31, 1855	Whig
	Stephen B. Cushing	January 1, 1856 – December 31, 1857	American
60px	Lyman Tremain	January 1, 1858 – December 31, 1859	Democratic
60px	Charles G. Myers	January 1, 1860 – December 31, 1861	Republican
60px	Daniel S. Dickinson	January 1, 1862 – December 31, 1863	Union
60px	John Cochrane	January 1, 1864 – December 31, 1865	Union
60px	John H. Martindale	January 1, 1866 – December 31, 1867	Republican
60px	Marshall B. Champlain	January 1, 1868 – December 31, 1871	Democratic	Two terms
60px	Francis C. Barlow	January 1, 1872 – December 31, 1873	Republican
60px	Daniel Pratt	January 1, 1874 – December 31, 1875	Democratic
60px	Charles S. Fairchild	January 1, 1876 – December 31, 1877	Democratic
60px	Augustus Schoonmaker Jr.	January 1, 1878 – December 31, 1879	Democratic
60px	Hamilton Ward Sr.	January 1, 1880 – December 31, 1881	Republican
60px	Leslie W. Russell	January 1, 1882 – December 31, 1883	Republican
60px	Denis O'Brien	January 1, 1884 – December 31, 1887	Democratic	Two terms
60px	Charles F. Tabor	January 1, 1888 – December 31, 1891	Democratic	Two terms
60px	Simon W. Rosendale	January 1, 1892 – December 31, 1893	Democratic
	Theodore E. Hancock	January 1, 1894 – December 31, 1898	Republican	Two terms (1894–1895; 1896–1898)
	John C. Davies	January 1, 1899 – December 31, 1902	Republican	Two terms
60px	John Cunneen	January 1, 1903 – December 31, 1904	Democratic
	Julius M. Mayer	January 1, 1905 – December 31, 1906	Republican
	William S. Jackson	January 1, 1907 – December 31, 1908	Democratic
60px	Edward R. O'Malley	January 1, 1909 – December 31, 1910	Republican
60px	Thomas Carmody	January 1, 1911 – September 2, 1914	Democratic	Resigned shortly before the end of his second term
60px	James A. Parsons	September 2, 1914 – December 31, 1914	Democratic	Appointed to fill the unexpired term
60px	Egburt E. Woodbury	January 1, 1915 – April 19, 1917	Republican	Resigned during his second term
60px	Merton E. Lewis	April 19, 1917 – December 31, 1918	Republican	As first deputy AG acted until being elected by the State Legislature on April 25 to fill unexpired first half of term, then re-elected in special election (Nov. 1917) for the other half (1918)
60px	Charles D. Newton	January 1, 1919 – December 31, 1922	Republican	Two terms
60px	Carl Sherman	January 1, 1923 – December 31, 1924	Democratic	Defeated for reelection in 1924
60px	Albert Ottinger	January 1, 1925 – December 31, 1928	Republican	Two terms; unsuccessful Republican nominee for governor in 1928
60px	Hamilton Ward Jr.	January 1, 1929 – December 31, 1930	Republican	Son of Hamilton Ward Sr. (AG from 1880 to 1881)
File:John J. Bennett, Jr. (New York Attorney General) (cropped).jpg	John J. Bennett Jr.	January 1, 1931 – December 31, 1942	Democratic	Five terms
60px	Nathaniel L. Goldstein	January 1, 1943 – December 31, 1954	Republican	Three terms
60px	Jacob K. Javits	January 1, 1955 – January 9, 1957	Republican	Resigned having been elected U.S. senator
60px	Louis J. Lefkowitz	January 9, 1957 – December 31, 1978	Republican	Re-elected by the State Legislature to fill the unexpired term, then re-elected to five more terms, longest-serving attorney general (8 days short of 22 years)
File:Soundview Abrams, Bronx Borough President (NYPL b11524053-1253146) (cropped).tiff	Robert Abrams	January 1, 1979 – December 31, 1993	Democratic	Elected to four terms, resigning a year before the end of his fourth term
60px	G. Oliver Koppell	January 1, 1994 – December 31, 1994	Democratic	Elected by the State Legislature to fill unexpired term
60px	Dennis Vacco	January 1, 1995 – December 31, 1998	Republican	Defeated for reelection in 1998. Joined Waste Management, Inc. as vice president for New York government affairs. Became a partner in Buffalo law firm, Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman.
60px	Eliot Spitzer	January 1, 1999 – December 31, 2006	Democratic	Two terms, then elected governor
60px	Andrew Cuomo	January 1, 2007 – December 31, 2010	Democratic	One term, then elected governor
60px	Eric Schneiderman	January 1, 2011 – May 8, 2018	Democratic	Resigned during his second term
	Barbara D. Underwood	May 8, 2018 – December 31, 2018	Democratic	Served as acting attorney general from May 8 to May 22, when she was confirmed by the New York State Legislature.
60px	Letitia "Tish" James	January 1, 2019 – present	Democratic