The Maine Attorney General is the chief legal adviser and prosecutor of the State of Maine and is chosen by the Maine Legislature in joint session. The constitutional basis of the office is Article IX, Section 11 of the Maine Constitution. The powers of the Attorney General, derived from the Maine Revised Statutes Annotated, Title 5, Chapter 9, include representing the State in civil actions, investigating and prosecuting homicides, advising district attorneys, and providing written opinions on matters of law at the request of the Governor or the Legislature.
The Maine State Archives has in its holdings a pictorial record of the Maine Attorneys’ General going back to Maine’s admission to the Union in 1820. Presented here are forty nine portraits of Maine’s Attorneys’ General from 1820 through 1965.
