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RESPONSIBILITIES The Attorney General heads the Office of the Attorney General, also known as the Department of Law. The Attorney General and their Office have several duties and powers granted by state law. These include:
In order to fulfill these responsibilities, the Attorney General oversees one of the largest law firms in Virginia. The full time staff includes a chief deputy attorney general, five deputy attorneys general and about 150 assistant attorneys general, 40 additional full time lawyers appointed as special counsel to particular agencies, and 140 legal assistants, legal secretaries and other professional support staff. The Office of the Attorney General is structured very much like a private law firm, with sections devoted to legal specialties. The Attorney General is second in the line of gubernatorial succession. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Governor Of Virginia , the Governor is replaced by the Lieutenant Governor Of Virginia . However, if there is also a vacancy in the office of Lieutenant Governor, then the Attorney General becomes Governor. POLITICAL AMBITIONS Because it is one of only three statewide elected offices, the post of Attorney General is seen as a stepping-stone to higher office, especially Governor Of Virginia . Along with the Lieutenant Governor Of Virginia , the Attorney General is seen as one of two candidates in contention to replace the sitting Governor. Following the 2001 election of Governor Mark Warner , it was widely believed that the 2005 election would be between then-Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine and then-Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, which is precisely what occurred, with Kaine winning and becoming Virginia's 70th Governor. A similar scenario occurred in 1981, when then-Lieutenant Governor Chuck Robb defeated then-Attorney General Marshall Coleman and again in 1997 when then-Attorney General Jim Gilmore defeated then-Lieutenant Governor Don Beyer . It is a Virginia tradition that Attorneys General who are running for Governor resign from office before the conclusion of the four-year term for which they are elected. This has provided political fodder for their opponents, with Mark Earley criticized early in 2001 for not resigning (though he would resign in June of that year), with critics saying he could not campaign and serve effectively as Attorney General simultaneously, while Jerry Kilgore was criticized for resigning when he did so in February of 2005, with critics saying he was abandoning his responisibilities to campaign. Some Attorneys General have not resigned, including Marshall Coleman in 1981. When an Attorney General resigns, it is the responsibility of the Virginia General Assembly to elect a replacement to finish the term of office. Often the Chief Deputy Attorney General is chosen, as in the case of Judith Jagdmann. RECENT ATTORNEYS GENERAL
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