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The Texas Attorney General (AG) is the chief legal officer of Texas and his office is responsible for representing the state in civil litigation.
The Attorney General’s Office also serves as legal counsel to state agencies, boards, and commissions, prosecutes consumer fraud cases, and enforces child support orders.
Term of Office
The Attorney General is directly elected by the voters and holds a four-year term. He is one of six officers named in the Texas Constitution as constituting the state’s Executive Department, also called the “plural executive.”
The current Attorney General is Ken Paxton, a former legislator. He has served in the position since January 5, 2015.
Office of Attorney General Divisions
There are more than 40 administrative divisions within the Office of Attorney General, including a General Counsel Division, Child Support Division, several criminal justice divisions, and a dozen civil litigation divisions specializing in different areas of law, including bankruptcy, Medicaid fraud, antitrust, consumer protection, and tax litigation.
The Child Support Division serves as the state’s organization for establishing and enforcing child support.
The Open Records Division issues letters and decisions on public information matters, playing a key role in the state’s process of determining exceptions to public information.
Role in Criminal Prosecutions
The Attorney General’s Office has no general authority in criminal cases. Instead, Texas law grants county or district attorneys primary jurisdiction to prosecute most criminal offenses.
However, the Texas Legislature has given the Attorney General permission to act in criminal cases “with the consent of the appropriate local county or district attorney.” For example, the Attorney General’s Office helps in cases of misuse of state funds or property, abuse of office, election law violations, and offenses against juvenile offenders in state correctional facilities.
Additionally, the Attorney General’s Office has a Human Trafficking and Transnational/Organized Crime Section. Its job is to assist local law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as aid victims of human trafficking.
Law Enforcement Division
In addition to its litigation role, the Attorney General’s Office has a Law Enforcement Division employing sworn Texas peace officers (state police). Their role is to investigate public corruption, human trafficking, money laundering, mortgage fraud, and election violations.
The Law Enforcement Division also investigates cybercrimes including online solicitation of minors, child pornography, and identity theft. They also locate and apprehend convicted sex offenders who have failed to comply with the state’s sex offender registration requirements.
The Law Enforcement Division is the state liaison to Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) and the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
Solicitor General of Texas
The Solicitor General of Texas is the top appellate lawyer in the Office of the Texas Attorney General. The solicitor general position is modeled on a federal position of the same name and handles cases in the United States Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Texas, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the state appellate courts.
Since its creation in 1999, the position has been held by a number of lawyers who went on to more senior positions in government, including U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, Fifth Circuit Judges Andy Oldham, S. Kyle Duncan, and James Ho, and Texas Supreme Court Justice Jimmy Blacklock.
Legal Opinions
Attorney General opinions are a formal mechanism for resolving thorny legal questions within the Texas government, without resorting to a court case.
An attorney general opinion is a written interpretation of existing law. Though technically non-binding, attorney general opinions tend to be influential and are generally complied with.
These legal opinions don’t necessarily reflect the personal views of the Attorney General himself, but are produced by a dedicated Opinion Committee within the OAG.
Only authorized requestors may seek a formal OAG opinion. The Government Code lists the officials authorized to request formal attorney general opinions, which include the governor, the head of a department or board, a public university trustee, a committee of a house of the Texas Legislature, a county auditor, or a district or county attorney.
