The Alaska Attorney General is the chief legal advisor to the government

Government of Alaska

The government of Alaska is divided into various departments. Alaska has 246 federally recognized tribal governments and one federal Indian reservation.-History:...

 of the State of Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 and to its governor. The Attorney General is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Alaska Legislature

Alaska Legislature

The Alaska Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a bicameral institution, consisting of the lower Alaska House of Representatives, with 40 members, and the upper house Alaska Senate, with 20 members...

. The position has existed since the early days of the Territory of Alaska, though it was an elected rather than an appointed position prior to statehood. The Attorney General also serves as the Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Law, and is the only commissioner of a principal department of Alaska state government not referred to as "Commissioner" in normal usage. The current Attorney General is John J. Burns.

List of Attorneys General

In the earliest days of the Alaska Territory

Alaska Territory

The Territory of Alaska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 24, 1912, until January 3, 1959, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Alaska...

, the Territorial Counsel served as the de facto attorney general. Only one person, John H. Cobb, served in this position. The 2nd Alaska Territorial Legislature in 1915 created the Office of the Attorney General, to become effective after the 1916 general election. The attorney general's position was an elected position during the entirety of territorial days, as opposed to under statehood, in which it has been a position appointed by the governor. The following is a list of attorneys general in Alaska.

Name	Began service	Ended service	Governor
George B. Grigsby	1916	1919	Strong John Franklin Alexander Strong John Franklin Alexander Strong was a Canadian-born journalist who was the 2nd Governor of Alaska Territory from 1913 to 1918.-Background:... , Riggs
Jeremiah C. Murphy	1919	1920	Riggs
John Rustgard	1920	1933	Riggs, Bone Scott Cordelle Bone Scott Cardelle Bone was the third Territorial Governor of Alaska, serving from 1921–1925. A Republican, he was appointed by President Warren G. Harding... , Parks George Alexander Parks George Alexander Parks was an American engineer who worked in Alaska Territory for most of his career. Following an unexpected nomination from President Calvin Coolidge, he became the territory's first resident governor...
James S. Truitt	1933	1941	Troy John Weir Troy John Weir Troy was an American Democratic politician who was the Governor of Alaska Territory from 1933 to 1939. He was born in Dungeness, Washington and died in Juneau, Alaska.... , Gruening Ernest Gruening Ernest Henry Gruening was an American journalist and Democrat who was the Governor of the Alaska Territory from 1939 until 1953, and a United States Senator from Alaska from 1959 until 1969.-Early life:...
Henry Roden	1941	1945	Gruening
Ralph J. Rivers	1945	1949	Gruening
J. Gerald Williams	1949	1959	Gruening, Heintzleman Benjamin Franklin Heintzleman Benjamin Franklin "Frank" Heintzleman was an American forester who spent much of his career supporting the development of Alaska Territory. Following a career with the United States Forest Service he was appointed Governor of Alaska Territory, a position he held from 1953 till 1957... , Stepovich
John L. Rader	1959	1960	Egan William Allen Egan William Allen Egan was an American Democratic politician. He served as the first Governor of the State of Alaska from January 3, 1959 to 1966, and the fourth Governor from 1970 to 1974...
Ralph E. Moody	1960	1962	Egan
George N. Hayes	1962	1964	Egan
Warren C. Colver	1964	1966	Egan
Donald A. Burr	1966	1967	Hickel
Edgar Paul Boyko Edgar Paul Boyko Edgar Paul Boyko was an Alaskan attorney. He served as Attorney General for the State of Alaska under the administration of Governor Walter Hickel from 1967 to 1968.-Biography:...	1967	1968	Hickel
G. Kent Edwards	1968	1970	Hickel, Miller Keith Harvey Miller Keith Harvey Miller is an American Republican politician from Alaska. Miller was the second Lieutenant Governor of Alaska under Walter Hickel from 1966 until Hickel's resignation to become U.S. Secretary of Interior in the Cabinet of President Richard M...
John E. Havelock	1970	1973	Egan
Norman C. Gorsuch	1973	1974	Egan
Avrum M. Gross	1974	1980	Hammond Jay Hammond Jay Sterner Hammond was an American politician of the Republican Party, who served as the fourth Governor of Alaska from 1974 to 1982.-Early life:...
Wilson L. Condon	1980	1982	Hammond
Norman C. Gorsuch	1982	1985	Sheffield
Harold M. Brown	1985	1986	Sheffield
Grace Berg Schaible Grace Berg Schaible Grace Berg Schaible was the first female state's attorney general. She served as Alaska's attorney general from 1987 to 1989.-Background:Grace L. Berg was the product of immigrant parents. Her father, Hans A. Berg, was from Otteren , Nordfjord, Norway. Her mother, Mandis, hailed from a village...	1987	1989	Cowper Steve Cowper Steve Cowper is an American Democratic politician who was the sixth Governor of Alaska of Alaska from 1986 to 1990. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and later served in the Alaska House of Representatives before being elected governor.Cowper served as Governor at...
Douglas B. Baily	1989	1990	Cowper
Charles E. Cole	1991	1994	Hickel
Bruce M. Botelho	1994	2002	Hickel, Knowles Tony Knowles (politician) Anthony Carroll Knowles is an American Democratic politician and businessman who served as the seventh Governor of Alaska from December 1994 to December 2002. Barred from seeking a third consecutive term as governor in 2002, he ran unsuccessfully for Senate in 2004 and again for governor in...
Gregg D. Renkes	2002	2005	Murkowski Frank Murkowski Francis Hughes Murkowski is an American politician and a member of the Republican Party. He was a United States Senator from Alaska from 1981 until 2002 and the eighth Governor of Alaska from 2002 until 2006.- Early life and career :...
David W. Márquez David W. Márquez David W. Márquez is an American lawyer and politician, and the former attorney general of the state of Alaska....	2005	2006	Murkowski
Talis J. Colberg Talis J. Colberg Talis James Colberg was appointed by Governor Sarah Palin as the seventeenth attorney general of Alaska on December 13, 2006. Colberg resigned in February 2009 over controversy over the Alaska Public Safety Commissioner dismissal....	2006	2009	Palin Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
Daniel S. Sullivan Daniel S. Sullivan Daniel S. Sullivan is the current Attorney General of Alaska. Sullivan was appointed to his current office by then-Governor Sarah Palin in June 2009.-Early life and education:...	2009	2010	Palin, Parnell Sean Parnell Sean R. Parnell is an American Republican politician who is the tenth and current Governor of Alaska. He succeeded Sarah Palin following her resignation, and was sworn in at the Governor's Picnic in Fairbanks on July 26, 2009...
John J. Burns	2010	incumbent	Parnell

External links

• Alaska Department of Law official page