The Attorney General of Delaware is a constitutional officer of the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

, and is the chief law officer and the head of the State Department of Justice.

Description of the office

The Attorney General elected to a four-year term in the "off-year" state election, two years before/after the election of the Governor. Along with the State Treasurer, State Auditor, and State Insurance Commissioner, the office is intended to serve as a restraint to the Governor's exclusive executive authority. The office existed in various forms prior to the ratification of the Delaware Constitution of 1776

Delaware Constitution of 1776

The Delaware Constitution of 1776 was the first governing document for Delaware state government and was in effect from its adoption in September 1776 until replaced in 1792 by a new Constitution.-Background:...

, which continued the existing colonial tradition of granting the Governor of Delaware the power to appoint the Attorney General for a five-year tenure. With the ratification of the Delaware Constitution of 1897

Delaware Constitution of 1897

The Constitution of the State of Delaware of 1897 is the fourth and current governing document for Delaware state government and has been in effect since its adoption on June 4 of that year.-Executive:...

, the post was converted to its present four-year elected form, also establishing the Attorney General as third in line of succession to the office of Governor, after the Lieutenant Governor

Lieutenant Governor of Delaware

The Lieutenant Governor of Delaware is the second ranking executive officer of the U.S. state of Delaware. Lieutenant Governors are elected for a term of four years in the same general election as the U.S. President and take office the following January....

 and Secretary of State

Secretary of State (U.S. state government)

Secretary of State is an official in the state governments of 47 of the 50 states of the United States, as well as Puerto Rico and other U.S. possessions. In Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, this official is called the Secretary of the Commonwealth...

.

Office Holders

Gunning Bedford, Jr.

Gunning Bedford, Jr.

Gunning Bedford, Jr. was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware. He served in the Delaware General Assembly, as a Continental Congressman from Delaware and as a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787. He is often confused with his cousin,...

 was the first holder of the office after American independence. The office is currently held by Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III

Beau Biden

Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III is an American lawyer, Army JAG officer, and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He serves as the Attorney General of Delaware and a Major in the Delaware Army National Guard...

, who was elected in 2006 and took office on January 2, 2007. He is a Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 and the eldest son of Vice President

Vice President of the United States

The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...

 and former senior U.S. Senator from Delaware

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

, Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

Joe Biden

Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President Barack Obama...

Attorneys General of Delaware

#	Name	Time in Office
1	Gunning Bedford, Jr. Gunning Bedford, Jr. Gunning Bedford, Jr. was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware. He served in the Delaware General Assembly, as a Continental Congressman from Delaware and as a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787. He is often confused with his cousin,...	1778–1790
2	Nicholas Ridgely	1790–1801
3	Nicholas Van Dyke	1801–1806
4	Outerbridge Horsey Outerbridge Horsey -Outerbridge Horsey I:Nathanial Horsey married Martha Outerbridge in Accomack, Virginia. Among their children was Outerbridge Horsey who was born in 1715. He married Mary Dixon and had a son William Horsey...	1806–1810
5	Thomas Clayton Thomas Clayton Thomas Clayton was an American lawyer and politician from Dover in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Federalist Party and later the Whig Party. He served in the Delaware General Assembly, as Attorney General of Delaware, as Secretary of State of Delaware, as Chief Justice of the...	1810–1815
6	James Rogers	1815–1830
7	Robert Frame	1830–1835
8	James Rogers	1835–1840
9	Edward W. Gilpin	1840–1850
10	Willard Saulsbury, Sr. Willard Saulsbury, Sr. Willard Saulsbury, Sr. was a lawyer and politician from Georgetown, in Sussex County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party, who served as Attorney General of Delaware, U.S...	1850–1855
11	George P. Fisher George P. Fisher George Purnell Fisher was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party and later the Republican Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly, as Attorney General of Delaware, as Secretary of State of Delaware, as...	1855–1860
12	Alfred Wooten	1860–1864
13	Jacob Moore Jacob Moore Jacob Moore was Attorney General of the state of Delaware from 1864 through 1869.-References:*...	1864–1869
14	Charles B. Lore Charles B. Lore Charles Brown Lore was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party, who served as Attorney General of Delaware and U. S. Representative from Delaware....	1869–1874
15	John B. Penington John B. Penington John Brown Penington was an American lawyer and politician, from Dover, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party, who served as Attorney General of Delaware and two terms as U. S...	1874–1879
16	George Gray George Gray (senator) George Gray was an American lawyer, judge, and politician from New Castle, in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party, who served as Attorney General of Delaware, U.S. Senator from Delaware and Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.-Early life and...	1879–1885
17	John H. Paynter	1885–1887
18	John Biggs	1887–1892
19	John R. Nicholson	1892–1895
20	Robert C. White	1895–1901
21	Herbert H. Ward	1901–1905
22	Robert H. Richards	1905–1909
23	Andrew C. Gray	1909–1913
24	Josiah O. Wolcott Josiah O. Wolcott Josiah Oliver Wolcott was an American lawyer, politician and judge, from Dover, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party, who served as Attorney General of Delaware, U.S...	1913–1917
25	David J. Reinhardt	1917–1921
26	Sylvester D. Townsend, Jr.	1921–1925
27	Clarence A. Southerland	1925–1929
28	Reuben Satterthwaite, Jr.	1929–1933
29	Daniel J. Layton Daniel J. Layton Daniel John Layton served on the Delaware Supreme Court as Chief Justice from 1933 to 1945 and earlier as attorney general of Delaware from late 1932 until his nomination. He was a native of Sussex County, Delaware and the son of U.S. Representative Caleb R...	1933
30	P. Warren Green	1933–1939
31	James R. Morford	1939–1943
32	Clair J. Killoran	1943–1947
33	Albert W. James	1947–1951
34	H. Albert Young	1951–1955
35	Joseph D. Craven	1955–1959
36	Januar D. Bove, Jr.	1959–1963
37	David P. Buckson David P. Buckson David Penrose Buckson is an American lawyer and politician from Camden, in Kent County, Delaware. He is a veteran of World War II and a member of the Republican Party, who served as the 15th Lieutenant Governor of Delaware, the 68th Governor of Delaware and the 37th Attorney General of...	1963–1971
38	W. Laird Stabler, Jr. W. Laird Stabler, Jr. Winder Laird Stabler, Jr. was an American attorney and politician from Delaware.-Early life:Stabler was born in 1930 in Nashville, Tennessee. He moved with his family to Seaford at the age of nine. He attended school there until 1944...	1971–1975
39	Richard R. Wier, Jr.	1975–1979
40	Richard S. Gebelein	1979–1983
41	Charles M. Oberly, III Charles M. Oberly, III Charles Monroe Oberly, III is an attorney in Delaware. He currently serves as United States Attorney for the District of Delaware and served as Attorney General of Delaware from 1983 to 1995.-Early life and education:...	1983–1995
42	M. Jane Brady	1995–2005
43	Carl C. Danberg Carl Danberg Carl C. Danberg is an American lawyer from Newark, in New Castle County, Delaware. He is a member of the Democratic Party and was the Attorney General of Delaware. and Commissioner of the Delaware Department of Correction....	2005–2007
44	Joseph R. "Beau" Biden, III Beau Biden Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III is an American lawyer, Army JAG officer, and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He serves as the Attorney General of Delaware and a Major in the Delaware Army National Guard...	2007–present

External links

• Office of the Attorney General, State of Delaware
• Past Attorneys General
• Delaware Historical Society
  Delaware Historical Society
  The Delaware Historical Society began in 1864 as an effort to preserve documents from the Civil War. Since then, it has expanded into a state-wide historical institution with several venues and a major museum in Wilmington and the historic Read House & Gardens in New Castle.The society...
  
   website
• University of Delaware
  University of Delaware
  The university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...
  
  Library website