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Archival Collections of the Michigan Attorney General

Archival Collections of the Michigan Attorney General

The Attorney General (AG) is elected every four years and serves as the state's top lawyer and official for the State of Michigan. The territorial legislature established the position in 1807. As statehood was established, the 1835 Michigan constitution mandated the position of Attorney General.

The Attorney General represents the state in legal proceedings and provides legal advice to the governor and state departments. The office also issues opinions to state officials and the legislature, conducts criminal prosecutions, and intervenes in legal proceedings on behalf of the people of Michigan. However, it does not provide representation for individual residents. The Department of Attorney General is made up of many Assistant Attorneys General and staff within divisions that specialize in various types of law to represent all areas of state government.

The Attorney General, upon request, may provide formal legal opinions on questions of law to the legislature, governor, auditor general, treasurer, or any other state officer (MCL 14.32). The Attorney General prioritizes granting opinion requests that affect the operation of state government or have a statewide impact. These formal opinions are considered to address questions significant enough to the state's jurisprudence to warrant publication and are vinding on state agencies.

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The Attorney General is mandated by law (MCL 14.30) to produce a report of all the official business done by the department over a two-year period. This series contains the biennial reports published by the Attorney General‘s office from 1963-2022. These reports typically include the following information: list of all previous Attorneys General, register of the department staff, biographical sketches of all Assistant Attorneys General, overview of the organizational structure of the department, list of prosecuting attorneys from each county, formal opinions, division reports, reports of prosecutions (by division), and numerical/subject indexes for formal opinions. The contents of these reports vary slightly over time and have grown to include elements such as opinion policies and lists of other previous executive-level staff.

Browse Biennial Reports

In addition to the biennial reports, this series contains compiled indexes covering formal opinions published in the Attorney General's biennial reports dating 1970 to 2000. These indexes are organized alphabetically by keyword and subject heading and include the assigned opinion number, the date range of the biennial report in which each opinion orginally appeared, and the corresponding page number within that report.

Browse Indexes to Opinions

These press releases are from the Michigan Attorney General's Executive Office. A press release is formal announcement prepared by an organization, in this case the Michigan Attorney General's Executive Office, and delivered to journalists, editors, and media outlets. Its purpose is to provide new information, make an official statement, or announce an event or development intended for public distribution.

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This series contains publications from the Michigan Attorney General. These materials are used to distribute information and publish agency activities.

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This series contains speeches made by the Michigan Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General. The files may contain invitations, programs, speaker notes, speech text, electronic presentations, and supplementary documents.

Browse Speeches