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Attorney General of Florida

Chief legal officer of Florida

Field	Value
post	Attorney General
body	Florida
insignia	Office of the Attorney General, State of Florida official seal (cropped).png
insigniasize	120px
insigniacaption	Seal of the attorney general of Florida
image	Official portrait of Attorney General James Uthmeier, 2025 (cropped 2).jpg
incumbent	James Uthmeier
department	Department of Legal Affairs
style	The Honorable
incumbentsince	February 17, 2025
termlength	Four years, renewable once
formation	1845
inaugural	Joseph Branch
website
seat	Tallahassee, Florida
appointer	Popular vote
constituting_instrument	Constitution of Florida
succession	Second
member_of	Florida Cabinet

The attorney general of Florida is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of Florida. The officeholder is a member of the Florida Cabinet and the head of the state Department of Legal Affairs. The office is one of Florida's three elected state cabinet posts, along with the chief financial officer and agriculture commissioner.

James Uthmeier has been the 30th and current attorney general since 2025, having been appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis to replace Ashley Moody, who resigned to become a United States senator.

Qualifications and term of office

Article IV, Section 4, of the Constitution of Florida establishes the cabinet and the position of the attorney general. As with other elected statewide offices in Florida, the attorney general is limited to serving two consecutive four-year terms. The attorney general must meet the following qualifications to be eligible for the office:

A registered elector;
Not be less than 30 years old;
Have resided in the state for the preceding 7 years; and
Have been a member of the Florida Bar for 5 years.

The attorney general is second (behind the lieutenant governor) in the line of succession to the office of Governor of Florida.

Removal from office

The Florida attorney general can be impeached for committing a "misdemeanor in office" by the State House of Representatives, and then convicted and thereby removed from office by a two-thirds vote of the State Senate.

Powers and duties

Title IV, Chapter 16 of the Florida statutes establish the general duties of the office. The general duties of the attorney general are as follows:

Issue official opinions on any question of law when requested in writing by a state officers or legislator;
Appear on behalf of the state in any civil suit or criminal prosecution, and in the Supreme Court of Florida and its appellate courts;
Act as co-counsel of record in capital collateral proceedings;
Other duties incident or usual to the office; and
Request the opinion of the justices of the supreme court as to the validity of any initiative petition circulated pursuant to Section 3 of Article XI of the Florida constitution.

The Florida solicitor general is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the attorney general. The current solicitor is Henry C. Whitaker.

List of Florida attorneys general

Party	Attorneys general
Democratic	27
Republican	11
Whig	1

#	Image	Name	Term of service	Political party
1	[[File:Joseph Branch.jpg	60px]]	Joseph Branch	1845–1846	Democratic
2	[[File:AugustusMaxwell.jpg	60px]]	Augustus Maxwell	1846–1848	Democratic
3	[[File:James Tillinghast Archer.jpg	60px]]	James T. Archer	1848	Democratic
4	[[File:David P. Hogue Florida Attorney General.png	60px]]	David P. Hogue	1848–1853	Whig
5	[[File:MarianoPapy.jpg	60px]]	Mariano D. Papy	1853–1861	Democratic
6	[[File:John B. Galbraith.jpg	60px]]	John B. Galbraith	1861–1868	Democratic
7	[[File:James Westcott III.jpg	60px]]	James Westcott III	1868	Democratic
8		A. R. Meek	1868–1870	Republican
9		Sherman Conant	1870–1871	Republican
10	[[File:J. B. C. Drew.png	60px]]	J. B. C. Drew	1871–1872	Republican
11	[[File:HoratioBisbee.jpg	60px]]	Horatio Bisbee Jr.	1872	Republican
12		J. P. C. Emmons	1872–1873	Republican
13	[[File:William Archer Cocke.jpg	60px]]	William A. Cocke	1873–1877	Democratic
14	[[File:GeorgePettusRaney.jpg	60px]]	George P. Raney	1877–1885	Democratic
15	[[File:Charles Merian Cooper.jpg	60px]]	Charles Merian Cooper	1885–1889	Democratic
16	[[File:WilliamBLamar.jpg	60px]]	William Bailey Lamar	1889–1903	Democratic
17	[[File:Jbwhitfield.jpg	60px]]	James B. Whitfield	1903–1904	Democratic
18	[[File:W. H. Ellis.jpg	60px]]	W. H. Ellis	1904–1909	Democratic
19	[[File:ParkTrammell.jpg	60px]]	Park Trammell	1909–1913	Democratic
20	[[File:ThomasFranklinWest.jpg	60px]]	Thomas F. West	1913–1917	Democratic
21	[[File:VanCiceroSwearingen.jpg	60px]]	Van C. Swearingen	1917–1921	Democratic
22	[[File:RiversHBuford.jpg	60px]]	Rivers Buford	1921–1925	Democratic
23	[[File:J. B. Johnson.jpg	60px]]	J. B. Johnson	1925–1927	Democratic
24	[[File:Fred Henry Davis.jpg	60px]]	Fred Henry Davis	1927–1931	Democratic
25	[[File:Cary D Landis.jpg	60px]]	Cary D. Landis	1931–1938	Democratic
26	[[File:George Couper Gibbs.jpg	60px]]	George Couper Gibbs	1938–1941	Democratic
27	[[File:J. Thomas Watson.jpg	60px]]	J. Thomas Watson	1941–1949	Democratic
28	[[File:Richard W Ervin.jpg	60px]]	Richard Ervin	1949–1964	Democratic
29	[[File:James W Kynes.jpg	60px]]	James W. Kynes	1964–1965	Democratic
30	[[File:Earl Faircloth.jpg	60px]]	Earl Faircloth	1965–1971	Democratic
31	[[File:Robert L. Shevin (cropped).jpg	60px]]	Robert L. Shevin	1971–1979	Democratic
32	[[File:Portrait of Attorney General Jim Smith - Tallahassee, Florida.jpg	60px]]	James C. Smith	1979–1987	Democratic
33	[[File:Bob Butterworth (cropped).jpg	60px]]	Bob Butterworth	1987–2002	Democratic
34	[[File:Richard Doran.jpg	60px]]	Richard E. Doran	2002–2003	Republican
35	[[File:Charlie Crist official portrait crop.jpg	60px]]	Charlie Crist	2003–2007	Republican
36	[[File:McCollum bio photo (cropped).jpg	60px]]	Bill McCollum	2007–2011	Republican
37	[[File:Bondi bio photo crop.jpg	60px]]	Pam Bondi	2011–2019	Republican
38	[[File:AttorneyGeneral AshleyMoody (cropped).jpg	60px]]	Ashley Moody	2019–2025	Republican
--		John M. Guard
Acting	2025	Republican
39	[[File:Official portrait of Attorney General James Uthmeier, 2025 (cropped).jpg	60px]]	James Uthmeier	2025–present	Republican

References

Caputo, Liv. (2025-01-16). "DeSantis' Chief of Staff James Uthmeier to be the Next Florida Attorney General".
[http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?Mode=Constitution&Submenu=3&Tab=statutes&CFID=143655674&CFTOKEN=1197218eac43d116-98C82042-9348-4132-9E088286BC4CD50A#A6S04 Fla. Const. art. VI, § 4]
"Constitution of Florida: Article IV, Section 3". [[Florida Legislature]].
"Florida Statutes 14.055". Law Server.
[http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?Mode=Constitution&Submenu=3&Tab=statutes&CFID=143655674&CFTOKEN=1197218eac43d116-98C82042-9348-4132-9E088286BC4CD50A#A3S17 Fla. Const. art. III, § 17]
"FL Stat § 16.01 (2023)".
(October 2025). "Florida Attorney General - Solicitor General".

Info: Wikipedia Source

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