What Do Attorneys General Do?

Many voters are unsure of the duties of a state attorney general.  The following is a good overview from the National Association of Attorneys General: 

The Attorney General is popularly elected in 43 states, as well as in Guam, and is appointed by the governor in five states (Alaska, Hawaii, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Wyoming) and in the four jurisdictions of American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. In Maine, the Attorney General is selected by secret ballot of the legislature and in Tennessee, by the state Supreme Court. In the District of Columbia, the Mayor appoints the Attorney General whose powers and duties are similar to those of the Attorneys General of the states and jurisdictions.

As chief legal officers of the states, commonwealths, and territories of the United States, the Attorneys General serve as counselors to state government agencies and legislatures, and as representatives of the public interest. It is often said that Attorneys General occupy the intersection of law and public policy, dealing in areas as diverse as child support enforcement, drug policy, and environmental protection.

In many areas traditionally considered the exclusive responsibility of the federal government, the Attorneys General now share enforcement authority. Indeed, a major trend of the last several years has been the increasingly cooperative working relationships the Attorneys General have forged with their federal counterparts, particularly in the areas of trade regulation, environmental enforcement, and criminal justice.

Typical powers of the Attorneys General, while varying from one jurisdiction to the next due to statutory and constitutional mandates, now include the authority to: institute civil suits; represent state agencies; defend and/or challenge the constitutionality of legislative or administrative actions; enforce open meetings and records laws; revoke corporate charters; enforce antitrust prohibitions against monopolistic enterprises; enforce air, water pollution, and hazardous waste laws; in a majority of states, handle criminal appeals and serious state-wide criminal prosecutions; intervene in public utility rate cases; and enforce the provisions of charitable trusts.