Pennsylvania Attorney General

The Pennsylvania attorney general is the chief law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It became an elected office in 1980.^[1] The current attorney general is Republican Dave Sunday.

Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Seal of the attorney general of Pennsylvania
Incumbent Dave Sunday since January 21, 2025
Appointer	Direct popular vote
Term length	Four years
Formation	1683
Salary	$162,000 per year
Website	Official website

On August 15, 2016, then-Attorney General Kathleen Kane was convicted of criminal charges, including conspiracy, perjury, and obstruction of justice,^[2][3] and announced her resignation the following day, effective August 17.^[4] Consequently, as the Solicitor General, Bruce Castor assumed the office as Acting Attorney General.^[5] Governor Tom Wolf nominated Bruce Beemer to serve out the remaining balance of Kane's term, which expired in January 2017. Democrat Josh Shapiro succeeded Beemer. Shapiro was elected governor in 2022, and appointed Michelle Henry as his successor in 2023. The Pennsylvania Senate confirmed Henry in her own right later that year.

Authority and responsibilities

The Commonwealth Attorneys Act of 1980^[6] established the Office of Attorney General as an independent office headed by an elected attorney general.^[7] The office has the responsibility for the prosecution of those crimes prosecuted by the commonwealth, including organized crime and public corruption, as well as civil litigation on behalf of some, but not all, commonwealth agencies and the civil enforcement of some commonwealth laws, including laws pertaining to consumer protection and charities. The attorney general may act on behalf of consumers to issue cease and desist orders.^[8][9] The attorney general represents the commonwealth in all actions brought by or against the commonwealth and reviews all proposed rules and regulations by commonwealth agencies.^[10]

The attorney general also serves on the Board of Pardons, the joint Committee on Documents, the Hazardous Substances Transportation Board, the Board of Finance and Revenue, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, the Civil Disorder Commission, and the Municipal Police Officers Education and Training Commission.

List of attorneys general

There have been four styles of selection for the Pennsylvania Attorney General. The first phase was colonial, with the first attorney general commissioned in 1683. At the outbreak of the Revolution, the sitting attorney general, a loyalist, fled, and new attorneys general were appointed, under the Constitution of 1776, by the state president (or vice-president) with the Supreme Executive Council. Under the new constitution of 1790, attorneys general were appointed by the governor, subject to approval by the legislature (similar to how the United States Attorney General is appointed by the president of the United States). This remained in the Constitutions of 1838, 1874, and 1968. In 1978, voters approved an amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution making the office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General an elected position, effective as of the general election of 1980.

Note that before William Penn, there were attorneys general for New Sweden as early as 1643.^[11]

Colonial attorneys general

Under the influence of David Lloyd, who served 1686–1710, Pennsylvania developed its first judicial system. Andrew Hamilton, who served 1717–1726, strongly influenced Pennsylvania law away from some aspects of the British system.^[11]

• John White
• Samuel Hersent
• John White
• David Lloyd
• John Moore
• Robert Assheton
• Paromlus Parmyter
• George Lowther
• Thomas Clarke
• Robert Quarry
• Henry Wilson
• Andrew Hamilton
• Joseph Growden Jr.
• John Kinsey
• Tench Francis Sr.
• Benjamin Chew
• Andrew Allen

President/Council appointed attorneys general

Image	Name	Took office	Left office	Comment
	John Morris Jr.	July 16, 1777	November 1, 1777	pro tem[12]
	Jonathan D. Sergeant	November 1, 1777	November 23, 1780	Resigned[13]
	William Bradford	November 23, 1780	—	Re-commissioned

Attorneys general appointed between 1791 and 1920

Image	Name	Took office	Left office	Comment
	William Bradford	June 9, 1791	August 20, 1791	Resigned[14]
	Jared Ingersoll	August 20, 1791	May 10, 1800
	Joseph B. McKean	May 10, 1800	July 22, 1808
	Mahlon Dickerson	July 22, 1808	January 9, 1809
	Walter Franklin	January 9, 1809	October 2, 1810	Resigned[15]
	Joseph Reed	October 2, 1810	January 26, 1811
	Richard Rush	January 26, 1811	December 13, 1811
	Jared Ingersoll	December 13, 1811	December 21, 1816
	Amos Ellmaker	December 21, 1816	July 7, 1819
	Thomas Sergeant	July 7, 1819	December 20, 1820
	Thomas Elder	December 20, 1820	December 18, 1823
	Frederick Smith	December 18, 1823	February 5, 1828	Resigned[16]
	Calvin Blythe	February 5, 1828	May 6, 1828
	Amos Ellmaker	May 6, 1828	August 17, 1829
	Philip S. Markley	August 17, 1829	February 10, 1830
	Samuel Douglas	February 10, 1830	January 29, 1833
	Ellis Lewis	January 29, 1833	October 14, 1833	Resigned[17]
	George M. Dallas	October 14, 1833	December 1, 1835
	James Todd[18]	December 18, 1835	April 2, 1838	Resigned[19]
	William B. Reed	April 2, 1838	January 15, 1839
	Ovid F. Johnson	January 15, 1839	January 21, 1845
	John K. Kane	January 21, 1845	June 17, 1846[20]	Resigned[21]
	John M. Read	June 23, 1846	December 18, 1846	Resigned
	Benjamin Champneys	December 18, 1846	July 31, 1848
	James Cooper	July 31, 1848	December 30, 1848	Resigned
	Cornelius Darragh	January 4, 1849	April 28, 1851
	Thomas E. Franklin	April 28, 1851	January 21, 1852
	James Campbell	January 21, 1852	March 8, 1853	Resigned[22]
	Francis Wade Hughes	March 14, 1853	January 17, 1855
	Thomas E. Franklin	January 17, 1855	January 19, 1858
	John C. Knox	January 19, 1858	January 16, 1861
	Samuel A. Purviance	January 16, 1861	June 3, 1861
	William M. Meredith	June 3, 1861	January 16, 1867
	Benjamin Harris Brewster	January 16, 1867	October 25, 1869	Resigned
	F. Carroll Brewster	October 26, 1869	January 22, 1873
	Samuel E. Dimmick	January 22, 1873	October 11, 1875	Died in office
	George Lear	December 7, 1875	February 26, 1879
	Henry W. Palmer	February 26, 1879	January 17, 1883
	Lewis C. Cassidy	January 17, 1883	January 18, 1887
	William S. Kirkpatrick	January 18, 1887	January 10, 1891
	W. U. Hensel	January 10, 1891	January 15, 1895
	Henry Clay McCormick	January 15, 1895	January 18, 1899
	John P. Elkin	January 18, 1899	January 21, 1903
	Hampton L. Carson	January 21, 1903	January 16, 1907
	Moses Hampton Todd	January 16, 1907	January 17, 1911
	John C. Bell	January 17, 1911	January 19, 1915
	Francis Shunk Brown	January 19, 1915	January 21, 1919
	William I. Schaffer	January 21, 1919	December 14, 1920	Resigned

Attorneys general appointed between 1920 and 1980

Image	Name	Took office	Left office	Governor(s)
	George E. Alter	December 14, 1920	January 16, 1923		William Sproul
	George Washington Woodruff	January 16, 1923	January 18, 1927		Gifford Pinchot
	Thomas J. Baldrige	January 18, 1927	January 28, 1929[23]		John Stuchell Fisher
	Cyrus E. Woods	January 28, 1929	November 1, 1930[23]
	William A. Schnader	November 1, 1930[24]	January 15, 1935[25]
					Gifford Pinchot
	Charles J. Margiotti	January 15, 1935[26]	April 27, 1938[26]		George Howard Earle III
	Guy K. Bard	April 27, 1938[26]	January 17, 1939[26]
	Claude T. Reno	January 17, 1939[27]	December 31, 1942[28]		Arthur James
	E. Russell Shockley	December 31, 1942[28]	January 19, 1943[28]
	James H. Duff	January 19, 1943[29]	January 21, 1947[30]		Edward Martin
					John C. Bell Jr.
	T. McKeen Chidsey	January 21, 1947[30]	July 5, 1950[31]		James H. Duff
	Charles J. Margiotti	July 5, 1950[32]	March 2, 1951[33]
					John S. Fine
	Robert E. Woodside	March 7, 1951[32]	October 1, 1953[34]
	Frank Truscott	October 13, 1953[34][32]	January 18, 1955
	Herbert B. Cohen	January 18, 1955[32][35]	December 17, 1956[35]		George M. Leader
	Thomas D. McBride	December 17, 1956[32][35]	January 20, 1959
	Anne X. Alpern	January 20, 1959[32]	August 28, 1961[36]		David L. Lawrence
	David Henry Stahl	August 29, 1961[32][36]	January 15, 1963
	Walter E. Alessandroni	January 15, 1963[32]	May 8, 1966[37]		William Scranton
	Edward Friedman	May 11, 1966[32][37]	January 17, 1967
	William C. Sennett	January 17, 1967[32]	July 3, 1970[38]		Raymond P. Shafer
	Fred Speaker	July 4, 1970[32]	January 19, 1971
	J. Shane Creamer	January 25, 1971[32]	December 31, 1972[39][40]		Milton Shapp
	Israel Packel	January 2, 1973[32]	December 23, 1974[41]
	Robert P. Kane	January 6, 1975[32]	June 7, 1978[42]
	Gerald Gornish	June 7, 1978[32][42]	December 31, 1978
	J. Justin Blewitt Jr. (acting)	January 1, 1979[32][43]	January 16, 1979[43]
	Edward G. Biester Jr.	January 16, 1979[32][43]	May 19, 1980[43]		Dick Thornburgh
	Harvey Bartle III	May 20, 1980[32][43]	January 20, 1981[43]

Occupants of the elected Pennsylvania Attorney General office (1981–present)

Image	Name		Took office	Left office
		LeRoy S. Zimmerman	January 20, 1981[44]	January 17, 1989[45]
		Ernie Preate	January 17, 1989[45]	June 23, 1995[46]
		Walter W. Cohen (acting)	June 26, 1995[32]	October 3, 1995[47]
		Tom Corbett	October 3, 1995[32][47]	January 21, 1997
		Mike Fisher	January 21, 1997[32]	December 15, 2003[48]
		Jerry Pappert	December 18, 2003[32]	January 18, 2005
		Tom Corbett	January 18, 2005[32]	January 18, 2011[49]
		William Ryan (acting)	January 18, 2011[49]	May 27, 2011
		Linda Kelly	May 27, 2011[50]	January 15, 2013
		Kathleen Kane	January 15, 2013[51]	August 17, 2016
		Bruce Castor (acting)	August 17, 2016[32]	August 31, 2016
		Bruce Beemer	August 31, 2016[32]	January 17, 2017
		Josh Shapiro	January 17, 2017	January 17, 2023
		Michelle Henry	January 17, 2023 Acting January 17, 2023 – March 8, 2023	January 21, 2025
		Dave Sunday	January 21, 2025	present

See also

• Pennsylvania portal

• Governor of Pennsylvania
• Pennsylvania General Assembly
• Pennsylvania Auditor General
• Pennsylvania Treasurer
• Pennsylvania State Capitol