# List of attorneys general of Rhode Island

The attorney general of Rhode Island is the chief legal advisor of the government of the State of Rhode Island and oversees the State of Rhode Island Department of Law. The attorney general is directly elected every four years. The current attorney general is Peter F. Neronha.

## History of the Rhode Island attorneys general

In 1643, Roger Williams obtained a patent (charter) from the English Parliament. The towns of Providence and Warwick elected a Chief Officer under the authority of this Parliamentary Patent of 1643. In 1647, the towns of Newport, Portsmouth, Providence, and Warwick formed a united colony under the Parliamentary Patent. In May 1650, the offices of "Attorney General for the Colonie" and "Solicitor" were created.

## List of attorneys general of Rhode Island
### Patent of 1643
#### Attorney general

* William Dyer: May 1650 – 1651

#### Solicitor

* Hugh Built: May 1650 – 1651

#### Coddington Commission

* John Easton, of Newport: May 1653 – May 1654 (Attorney General only for Portsmouth and Newport following the repeal of the Coddington Commission, and before the re-unification of the four towns into a single government)

#### Attorneys general

* John Cranston, of Newport May 1654 – May 1656
* John Easton, of Newport May 1656 – May 1657
* John Greene, Jr. of Warwick May 1657 – May 1660
* John Easton, of Newport May 1660 – May 1663

### Royal Charter of 1663

* John Sanford, of Portsmouth May 1663 – November 1664
* John Easton, of Newport 1664–1670
* John Sanford, of Portsmouth 1670–1671
* Joseph Torrey, of Newport 1671–1672
* John Easton, of Newport 1672–1674
* Peter Easton, of Newport 1674–1676
* Weston Clarke, of Newport 1676–1677
* Edward Richmond, of Newport 1677–1680
* Weston Clarke, of Newport 1680–1681
* Edmund Calverly, of Warwick 1681–1682
* John Pococke, of Newport 1684–1685
* Weston Clarke, of Newport 1685–1686
* John Pococke, of Newport 1684–1685
* Weston Clarke, of Newport 1685–1686
* John Williams, of Newport 1686–1689
* John Pococke, of Newport May 1690 – ????
* John Smith, of Warwick May 1696 – 1698
* John Pococke, of Newport 1698–1700
* John Rhodes, of Warwick 1700–1701
* John Pococke, of Newport 1701–1702
* Nathaniel Dyre, of Newport 1702–1704
* Joseph Sheffield, of Newport 1704–1706
* Simon Smith, of Warwick 1706–1712
* Richard Ward, of Newport 1712–1713
* John Hammett, of Newport 1713–1714
* Weston Clarke, of Newport 1714–1721
* Henry Bull, of Newport 1721–1722
* Daniel Updike, of North Kingstown 1722–1732
* James Honeyman, Jr., of Newport 1732–1740

#### King's attorneys

* James Honeyman, Jr., of Newport 1741–1743
* John Wanton, of Providence County 1741–1742
* Daniel Updike, of King's County 1741–1743
* John Andrew, of Providence County 1742–1743

#### Attorneys general

* Daniel Updike, of North Kingstown 1746–1747
* Augustus Johnston, of Newport 1758–1766
* Oliver Arnold, of Providence 1766–1771
* Henry Marchant, of Newport 1772–1776 (Independent)
* William Channing, of Newport 1777–1786 (Country)
* Henry Goodwin, of Newport 1787–1788 (Country)
* David Howell, of Providence 1789 (PA)
* Daniel Updike, of North Kingstown 1790
* William Channing, of Newport 1791–1793 (Country)
* Ray Greene, of Providence 1794–1796 (Federalist)
* James Burrill, Jr., of Providence 1797–1813 (Federalist)
* Samuel W. Bridgham, of Providence 1814–1816 (Federalist)
* Henry Bowen, of Providence 1817–1818 (Democratic-Republican)
* Dutee J. Pearce, of Newport 1819–1824 (Democratic-Republican)
* Albert C. Greene, of East Greenwich 1825–1842 (Whig)

### Constitution of Rhode Island (1843–present)

| Name | Party | Term of office | Residence |
| Joseph M. Blake | Law and Order | 1843–1850 | Bristol |
| Walter S. Burges | Democratic | 1851–1853 | Cranston |
| Christopher Robinson | Whig | 1854 | Cumberland |
| Charles Hart | Republican | 1855–1857 | Providence |
| Jerome Kimball | Republican | 1858–1859 | Providence |
| Walter S. Burges | Democratic | 1860–1862 | Cranston |
| Abraham Payne | Republican | 1863–1863 | Providence |
| Horatio Rogers | Republican | 1864–1866 | Providence |
| Willard Sayles | Republican | 1866–1881 | Providence |
| Samuel P. Colt | Republican | 1882–1885 | Bristol |
| Edwin Metcalf | Prohibition | 1886 | Providence |
| Ziba O. Slocum | Democratic | 1887 | Providence |
| Horatio Rogers | Republican | 1888 | Providence |
| Ziba O. Slocum | Democratic | 1889–1890 | Providence |
| Robert W. Burbank | Republican | 1891–1893 | Providence |
| Edward C. Dubois | Republican | 1894–1896 | East Providence |
| Willard B. Tanner | Republican | 1897–1900 | Providence |
| Charles F. Stearns | Democratic | 1901–1904 | Providence |
| William B. Greenough | Republican | 1905–1911 | Providence |
| Herbert A. Rice | Republican | 1912–1922 | Pawtucket |
| Herbert L. Carpenter | Democratic | 1923–1924 | North Smithfield |
| Charles P. Sisson | Republican | 1925–1928 | Providence |
| Oscar L. Heltzen | Republican | 1929–1930 | Providence |
| Benjamin M. McLyman | Republican | 1931–1933 | Providence |
| John P. Hartigan | Democratic | 1933–1938 | Cranston |
| Louis V. Jackvony | Republican | 1939–1940 | Providence |
| John H. Nolan | Democratic | 1941–1949 | Newport |
| William E. Powers | Democratic | 1949–1957 | Cumberland |
| J. Joseph Nugent | Democratic | 1958–1967 | Providence |
| Herbert F. DeSimone | Republican | 1967–1971 | Providence |
| Richard J. Israel | Republican | 1971–1975 | Providence |
| Julius C. Michaelson | Democratic | 1975–1979 | Providence |
| Dennis J. Roberts II | Democratic | 1979–1985 | Providence |
| Arlene Violet | Republican | 1985–1987 | Providence |
| James E. O'Neil | Democratic | 1987–1993 | Narragansett |
| Jeffrey B. Pine | Republican | 1993–1999 | Providence |
| Sheldon Whitehouse | Democratic | 1999–2003 | Providence |
| Patrick C. Lynch | Democratic | 2003–2011 | East Providence |
| Peter Kilmartin | Democratic | 2011–2019 | Pawtucket |
| Peter F. Neronha | Democratic | 2019–present | Jamestown |