The attorney general of South Carolina is a statewide elected attorney and South Carolina's chief legal officer and prosecutor. They are a constitutional officer responsible for providing legal opinions to the legislative and executive branch, represent state officers in civil suits, and appear on behalf of the State in all cases before the Supreme Court of the United States and all appellate courts.
History On February 5, 1698, Nicholas Trott was appointed as the first attorney general of South Carolina during its time as a British colony. He arrived in Charleston and assumed his duties the following year. Alexander Moultrie, half-brother of Revolutionary War figure and future governor William Moultrie, was named the state's first attorney general under its first state "president", John Rutledge, in 1776. Rutledge had been provincial attorney general himself for 10 months before independence. Moultrie was impeached and resigned in 1792 for diverting state funds into the Yazoo land company fraud.
After the 1876 South Carolina gubernatorial election, the state was left with a contested election and a dual government, from the election in November through April 1877. Republican Robert B. Elliott served briefly in this situation under Republican governor Daniel Henry Chamberlain, while James Conner held office under fellow Confederate officer and Democrat Wade Hampton III. Hampton and Conner prevailed.
His Majesty's attorneys-general of South Carolina
The colonial province of South Carolina was first organized under a royal governor in 1720.William Roy Smith, South Carolina as a Royal Province, 1710–1776, Macmillan, 1903, pp. 412–413.
Benjamin Whitaker (1721–1731) James Abercrombie (1731–1732) Charles Pinckney (1732–1733) James Abercrombie (1733–1742) Sir James Wright (1742–1757)assistant / acting AG from 1742 through 1747; official term 1747 – 1757. See https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/james-wright-1716-1785 David Graeme (1757–1764) James Moultrie (1764) John Rutledge (1764) Sir Egerton Leigh, 1st Baronet (1765–1774) James Simpson (1774–1775)
U.S. state of South Carolina attorneys general Image Name Took office Left office Party Alexander Moultrie17761792 John Julius Pringle17921808 Langdon ChevesDecember 8, 1808December 4, 1810Democratic-Republican John Smythe Richardson (Sr.)18101818 Robert Y. HayneDecember 18, 1818December 7, 1822Democratic-Republican James L. Petigru18221830Whig Hugh S. LegaréNovember 27, 1830November 29, 1832Democratic Robert RhettNovember 29, 1832March 4, 1837Democratic Henry Bailey18371848 Isaac W. Hayne18481868 Daniel Henry ChamberlainJuly 6, 1868December 7, 1872Republican Samuel Wickliff Melton18721876Republican William Stone18761876Republican Robert B. Elliott (disputed)December 14, 1876May 29, 1877Republican James Conner (disputed)18761877Democratic LeRoy F. Youmans18771882Democratic Charles R. Miles18821886 Joseph H. EarleNovember 30, 1886December 4, 1890Democratic Young J. Pope18901891 John L. McLaurinDecember 10, 1891December 5, 1892Democratic Daniel A. Townsend18921894 William A. Barber18941898 G. Duncan Bellinger (Sr.)18981902 U. X. Gunter, Jr.19021905Democratic LeRoy F. Youmans19051906Democratic D.C. Ray19061907 J. Fraser Lyon19071912 Thomas H. Peeples19131918Democratic Samuel M. Wolfe19181924 John M. Daniel19241950Democratic Tolliver Cleveland Callison Sr.19511959Democratic Daniel R. McLeod19591983Democratic Thomas T. MedlockJanuary 3, 1983January 3, 1995Democratic Charlie CondonJanuary 15, 1995January 15, 2003Republican Henry McMasterJanuary 15, 2003January 12, 2011Republican Alan WilsonJanuary 12, 2011presentRepublican
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