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Attorney General of South Carolina

Attorney General of South Carolina
Incumbent
Alan Wilson
since January 12, 2011
StyleThe Honorable
Term lengthFour years, no limit
Salary$208,000[1]
Websitewww.scag.gov

The attorney general of South Carolina is the state's chief legal officer and prosecutor.[2]

History

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On February 5, 1698, Nicholas Trott was appointed as the first attorney general of South Carolina during its time as a British colony. He arrived in Charleston and assumed his duties the following year.[3] Alexander Moultrie, half-brother of Revolutionary War figure and future governor William Moultrie, was named the state's first attorney general under its first state "president", John Rutledge, in 1776. Rutledge had been provincial attorney general himself for 10 months before independence. Moultrie was impeached and resigned in 1792 for diverting state funds into the Yazoo land company fraud.

After the 1876 South Carolina gubernatorial election, the state was left with a contested election and a dual government, from the election in November through April 1877. Republican Robert B. Elliott served briefly in this situation under Republican governor Daniel Henry Chamberlain, while James Conner held office under fellow Confederate officer and Democrat Wade Hampton III. Hampton and Conner prevailed.

His Majesty's attorneys-general of South Carolina

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The colonial province of South Carolina was first organized under a royal governor in 1720.[4]

U.S. state of South Carolina attorneys general

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Image Name Took office Left office Party
Alexander Moultrie 1776 1792
John Julius Pringle 1792 1808
Langdon Cheves December 8, 1808 December 4, 1810 Democratic-Republican
John Smythe Richardson (Sr.) 1810 1818
Robert Y. Hayne December 18, 1818 December 7, 1822 Democratic-Republican
James L. Petigru 1822 1830 Whig
Hugh S. Legaré November 27, 1830 November 29, 1832 Democratic
Robert Rhett November 29, 1832 March 4, 1837 Democratic
Henry Bailey 1837 1848
Isaac W. Hayne 1848 1868
Daniel Henry Chamberlain July 6, 1868 December 7, 1872 Republican
Samuel Wickliff Melton 1872 1876 Republican
William Stone 1876 1876 Republican
Robert B. Elliott (disputed) December 14, 1876 May 29, 1877 Republican
James Conner (disputed) 1876 1877 Democratic
LeRoy F. Youmans 1877 1882 Democratic
Charles R. Miles 1882 1886
Joseph H. Earle November 30, 1886 December 4, 1890 Democratic
Young J. Pope 1890 1891
John L. McLaurin December 10, 1891 December 5, 1892 Democratic
Daniel A. Townsend 1892 1894
William A. Barber 1894 1898
G. Duncan Bellinger (Sr.) 1898 1902
U. X. Gunter, Jr. 1902 1905 Democratic
LeRoy F. Youmans 1905 1906 Democratic
D.C. Ray 1906 1907
J. Fraser Lyon 1907 1912
Thomas H. Peeples 1913 1918 Democratic
Samuel M. Wolfe 1918 1924
John M. Daniel 1924 1950 Democratic
Tolliver Cleveland Callison Sr.[6] 1951 1959 Democratic
Daniel R. McLeod 1959 1983 Democratic
Thomas T. Medlock January 3, 1983 January 3, 1995 Democratic
Charlie Condon January 15, 1995 January 15, 2003 Republican
Henry McMaster January 15, 2003 January 12, 2011 Republican
Alan Wilson January 12, 2011 present Republican

References

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  1. ^ Budds, Becky (11 November 2022). "Pay raises for 6 South Carolina elected officials are coming in January". WLTX. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Inside the Office -".
  3. ^ Cook, Robert D. (February 4, 2005). "History of the Office". South Carolina Attorney General's Office. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  4. ^ William Roy Smith, South Carolina as a Royal Province, 1710–1776, Macmillan, 1903, pp. 412–413.
  5. ^ assistant / acting AG from 1742 through 1747; official term 1747 – 1757. See http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/james-wright-1716-1785
  6. ^ "Heart Attack Proves Fatal To Callison". The Greenville News. Associated Press. 18 March 1966. p. 48.