History
Since early Colonial times Georgia has had an Attorney General. Although the simple form of government adopted by the Trustees of the Colony in 1732 did not include an Attorney General, the need for a legal officer soon became apparent. Williams Stephens, though not a member of the bar, was selected in 1737 to serve as an unofficial counselor to Colonial officials. With the expiration of the royal charter in 1753 and the institution of a more conventional form of government, a Governor was appointed with the power to constitute courts and define their powers. Soon thereafter the King appointed William Clifton, Esquire, a distinguished English lawyer, to be Attorney General of Georgia. He arrived in Savannah in 1754 and immediately began drafting a plan for constituting courts. His report, presented on December 12, 1754, was the genesis of Georgia's present judicial system.
The Judiciary Act of 1797 provided for an Attorney General, whose duty was primarily the prosecution of criminals. The Constitution of 1868 made the Attorney General a constitutional officer, and he became the legal adviser to the Governor and the other departments of state government.
| The Attorneys General of Georgia 1754 to Present |
|
|---|---|
| Colonial Period (1732-1776) | |
| William Clifton | 1754-1764 |
| Charles Pryce | 1764-1776 |
| Post Colonial Period (1776-1806) | |
| Williams Stephens | 1776-1780 |
| John Milledge | 1780-1781 |
| Samuel Stirk | 1781-1785 |
| Nathaniel Pendleton | 1785-1786 |
| Matthew McAllister | 1787-1791 |
| George Walker | 1792-1795 |
| David Brydie Mitchell | 1796-1806 |
| The Milledgeville Period (1807-1868) | |
| Robert Walker | 1807-1808 |
| John Hamil | 1808 |
| John Forsyth | 1808-1811 |
| Alexander M. Allen | 1811 |
| Richard Henry Wilde | 1811-1813 |
| Alexander M. Allen | 1813-1816 |
| Roger Lawson Gamble | 1816-1822 |
| Thomas F. Wells | 1822-1827 |
| George Washington Crawford | 1827-1831 |
| Charles Jones Jenkins | 1831-1834 |
| Ebenezer Starnes | 1834-1840 |
| James Gardner | 1840-1843 |
| John J. R. Flournoy | 1843-1847 |
| Alpheus Colvard | 1847-1851 |
| John Troup Shewmake | 1851-1855 |
| William R. McLaws | 1855-1859 |
| Alpheus M. Rogers | 1859-1861 |
| Winder P. Johnson | 1861 |
| William Watts Montgomery | 1861-1865 |
| George Thomas Barnes | 1865-1866 |
| John Philpot Curren Whitehead | 1866-1868 |
| Constitutional Officer (1868 - Present) | |
| Henry P. Farrow | 1868-1872 |
| N. J. Hammond | 1872-1877 |
| Robert N. Ely | 1877-1880 |
| Clifford Anderson | 1880-1890 |
| George N. Lester | 1890-1891 |
| W. A. Little | 1891-1892 |
| J. M. Terrell | 1892-1902 |
| Boykin Wright | 1902-1902 |
| John C. Hart | 1902-1910 |
| Hewlett A. Hall | 1910-1911 |
| Thomas S. Felder | 1911-1914 |
| Warren Grice | 1914-1915 |
| Clifford Walker | 1915-1920 |
| R. A. Denny | 1920-1921 |
| George M. Napier | 1921-1932 |
| Lawrence S. Camp | 1932-1932 |
| M. J. Yeomans | 1933-1939 |
| Ellis G. Arnall | 1939-1943 |
| Grady Head | 1943-1945 |
| Eugene Cook | 1945-1965 |
| Arthur K. Bolton | 1965-1981 |
| Michael J. Bowers | 1981-1997 |
| Thurbert E. Baker | 1997-2011 |
| Samuel S. Olens | 2011-2016 |
| Christopher M. Carr | 2016 |