# Attorney General of Delaware

The attorney general of Delaware is a constitutional officer of the U.S. state of Delaware, and is the chief law officer and the head of the State Department of Justice. On January 1, 2019, Kathy Jennings was sworn in as the 46th attorney general of Delaware.

## Description of the office

The attorney general is elected to a four-year term in the "off-year" state election along with the state treasurer and state auditor, two years before/after the election of the governor. The attorney general, the state treasurer, state auditor, and state insurance commissioner offices are intended to serve as restraints to the governor's exclusive executive authority. The attorney general office existed in various forms prior to the ratification of the Delaware Constitution of 1776, which continued the existing colonial tradition of granting the governor the power to appoint the attorney general for a five-year tenure. With the ratification of the Delaware Constitution of 1897, the post was converted to its present four-year elected form, also establishing the attorney general as third in line of succession to the office of governor, after the lieutenant governor and secretary of state.

## Officeholders

Gunning Bedford Jr. was the first holder of the office after American independence. The office was held from 2007 to 2015 by Beau Biden, who was elected in 2006 and took office on January 2, 2007. He was a Democrat and the eldest son of 46th U.S. President and longest-serving U.S. Senator from Delaware Joe Biden.
| # | Name | Term of office | Political party |
| 1 | Gunning Bedford Jr. | 1778–1790 | |
| 2 | Nicholas Ridgely | 1790–1801 | |
| 3 | Nicholas Van Dyke | 1801–1806 | Federalist |
| 4 | Outerbridge Horsey | 1806–1810 | Federalist |
| 5 | Thomas Clayton | 1810–1815 | Federalist |
| 6 | James Rogers | 1815–1830 | |
| 7 | Robert Frame | 1830–1835 | |
| 8 | James Rogers | 1835–1840 | |
| 9 | Edward W. Gilpin | 1840–1850 | |
| 10 | Willard Saulsbury Sr. | 1850–1855 | Democratic |
| 11 | George P. Fisher | 1855–1860 | Unionist |
| 12 | Alfred Wooten | 1860–1864 | |
| 13 | Jacob Moore | 1864–1869 | Republican |
| 14 | Charles B. Lore | 1869–1874 | Democratic |
| 15 | John B. Penington | 1874–1879 | Democratic |
| 16 | George Gray | 1879–1885 | Democratic |
| 17 | John Henry Paynter | 1885–1887 | |
| 18 | John Biggs | 1887–1892 | |
| 19 | John R. Nicholson | 1892–1895 | |
| 20 | Robert C. White | 1895–1901 | |
| 21 | Herbert H. Ward | 1901–1905 | |
| 22 | Robert H. Richards | 1905–1909 | |
| 23 | Andrew C. Gray | 1909–1913 | |
| 24 | Josiah O. Wolcott | 1913–1917 | Democratic |
| 25 | David J. Reinhardt | 1917–1921 | |
| 26 | Sylvester D. Townsend Jr. | 1921–1925 | |
| 27 | Clarence A. Southerland | 1925–1929 | Republican |
| 28 | Reuben Satterthwaite Jr. | 1929–1933 | |
| 29 | Daniel J. Layton | 1933 | Republican |
| 30 | P. Warren Green | 1933–1939 | |
| 31 | James R. Morford | 1939–1943 | |
| 32 | Clair J. Killoran | 1943–1947 | |
| 33 | Albert W. James | 1947–1951 | |
| 34 | H. Albert Young | 1951–1955 | |
| 35 | Joseph D. Craven | 1955–1959 | Democratic |
| 36 | Januar D. Bove Jr. | 1959–1963 | Republican |
| 37 | David P. Buckson | 1963–1971 | Republican |
| 38 | W. Laird Stabler Jr. | 1971–1975 | Republican |
| 39 | Richard R. Wier Jr. | 1975–1979 | Democratic |
| 40 | Richard S. Gebelein | 1979–1983 | Republican |
| 41 | Charles Oberly | 1983–1995 | Democratic |
| 42 | M. Jane Brady | 1995–2005 | Republican |
| 43 | Carl C. Danberg | 2005–2007 | Democratic |
| 44 | Beau Biden | 2007–2015 | Democratic |
| 45 | Matthew Denn | 2015–2019 | Democratic |
| 46 | Kathy Jennings | 2019–present | Democratic |