The Role of the State Attorney General [POLICYbrief]
Short video featuring Mark Brnovich, Leslie Rutledge, and Pam Bondi
Short video featuring Mark Brnovich, Leslie Rutledge, and Pam Bondi
What is the role of the state attorney general? How has it changed in recent years? Two current state attorneys general, Mark Brnovich of Arizona and Leslie Rutledge of Arkansas, and one former attorney general, Pam Bondi of Florida, explain the role the state attorney general--from upholding the state constitution to protecting citizens from federal governmental overreach--in this episode of POLICYbrief.
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As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.
Learn more about Mark Brnovich:
https://www.azag.gov/mark-brnovich
Follow Mark Brnovich on Twitter: @GeneralBrnovich
https://twitter.com/GeneralBrnovich
Learn more about Leslie Rutledge:
https://arkansasag.gov/meet-leslie/
Follow Leslie Rutledge on Twitter: @AGRutledge
https://twitter.com/AGRutledge
Learn more about Pam Bondi:
http://ballardpartners.com/the-team/rebecca-benn-2/
Follow Pam Bondi on Twitter: @PamBondi
https://twitter.com/pambondi
Related links:
The Role of State Solicitors General [POLICYbrief]
https://fedsoc.org/commentary/videos/the-role-of-state-solicitors-general-policybrief
Differing views:
Elections Explained: What does the state attorney general do?
https://youtu.be/OUBNy3PbJuw
The Role of the State Attorney General
https://hls.harvard.edu/academics/curriculum/catalog/index.html?o=64746
Intro to State AGs
https://www.stateag.org/ag-101/intro
The State Role and State Attorneys-General
https://youtu.be/YbxguacXKec
Former Attorney General, State of Arizona
Mark Brnovich served as Arizona's 26th Attorney General from 2015 to 2023. He was first inaugurated in 2015, and again in 2019 after winning re-election. Mark has spent most of his professional life serving as a prosecutor at the local, state, and federal levels. Mark met his wife Susan while they both worked as prosecutors for the Maricopa County Attorney's office. Mark worked in the Gang/Repeat Offender Unit and prosecuted many difficult and high profile cases from 1992 to 1998. He then went on to work as an Assistant Attorney General with the Arizona Attorney General's Office from 1998 to 2003, where he developed an expertise in gambling law. Brnovich later went on to serve as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Arizona where he prosecuted public integrity crimes, as well as crimes occurring in Indian Country.
Brnovich has also been a Judge Pro Tem of Maricopa County Superior Court, a Command Staff Judge Advocate in the U.S. Army National Guard, the Director for Constitutional Government at the Goldwater Institute, and the Director of the Arizona Department of Gaming, a law enforcement agency that investigates illegal gambling activity, as well as working with tribal regulators to ensure the integrity of tribal gaming.
Brnovich is known for restoring public confidence in the office of "Arizona's Top Cop" and for assembling some of the nation's most talented public servants for his administration. Mark argued at the United States Supreme Court in defense of the "one-person, one-vote" principle, was featured on 60 Minutes in defense of capital punishment, and has initiated national public education efforts to combat human sex trafficking.
Brnovich has been recognized by the National Federation of Independent Business as a "Champion of Small Business." and was elected by his bi-partisan colleagues to serve as the Chairman of the Conference of Western Attorneys General.
Mark's wife Susan was recently appointed by the United States Senate to serve as a U.S. District Judge for the District of Arizona. He has two teenage daughters and lives in Phoenix.
Attorney General, State of Arkansas
Leslie Carol Rutledge is the 56th Attorney General of Arkansas. She was sworn into office in 2015 and is the first woman and first Republican in Arkansas history to be elected to the office. She was re-elected to a second term in 2018.
An Arkansas lawyer who has spent her entire career in public service, Rutledge is a former prosecutor, and her law practice focused on administrative law, state and local government and election law.
A seventh generation Arkansan, Rutledge grew up on a cattle farm and attended school at the Southside School District in Independence County. From her mother, an elementary school teacher, and her father, a lawyer and a judge, Rutledge learned the importance of hard work and service.
She graduated from the University of Arkansas and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law. Rutledge is admitted to practice law in Arkansas, Washington D.C. and before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Rutledge began work in the Arkansas Court of Appeals clerking for Judge Josephine Hart, now Associate Justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court. Rutledge served as Deputy Counsel in the Office of Governor Mike Huckabee advising state agencies including: Oil and Gas Commission, Public Service Commission, Insurance Department, Real Estate Commission, Bank Department, and dozens of smaller state agencies and departments. She served as Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Lonoke County handling felony cases and as Attorney for Arkansas's Division of Children and Family Services advocating for the best interest of our most vulnerable.
During her time in Washington, D.C., Rutledge was Deputy Counsel for the Mike Huckabee for President campaign, Deputy Counsel at the National Republican Congressional Committee and Counsel for the Republican National Committee including the 2012 Presidential campaign.
Her service has extended to community organizations including the Junior League, Alpha Delta Pi Alumni, National Rifle Association and Women in Networking in Central Arkansas. Rutledge is a member of the Arkansas Bar Association, UALR Bowen School of Law Alumni Board, Federalist Society and Republican National Lawyers Association.
Attorney General Rutledge believes face-to-face conversations lead to real solutions. To make the office more accessible, she hosts Mobile Offices in all 75 counties.
Her priorities have included educating Arkansans on consumer protection, internet safety and dating violence; leading efforts to combat the opioid epidemic; supporting military and veteran families; and making the office a top law firm in the state.
She also created Metal Theft Prevention and Cooperative Disability Investigations programs to stop fraud.
Rutledge leads multi-state issues to include serving on the Republican Attorneys General Association Executive Committee, as Chair of the National Association of Attorneys General Southern Region, and as Co-chair of the National Association of Attorneys General Committee on Agriculture.
Rutledge and her husband, Boyce, have one daughter. The family has a home in Pulaski County and a farm in Crittenden County.
Partner, Ballard Partners
Pam Bondi, elected twice to serve as Florida’s Attorney General from 2011 – 2019, chairs the firm’s Corporate Regulatory Compliance practice. This national practice area focuses on serving Fortune 500 companies to implement best practices that proactively address public policy challenges such as human trafficking, opioid abuse and personal data privacy. As chair of the Corporate Regulatory Compliance practice, Pam works with clients to design and implement publicly conscious initiatives that will elevate their corporate responsibility reputation as well as address their critical regulatory challenges.
Bondi was one of Florida’s most accomplished Attorneys General and earned a reputation among her colleagues as one of the toughest law enforcement officials in the country. During her tenure as Attorney General of Florida, Bondi undertook dozens of major state and national initiatives, including filing the most comprehensive state litigation regarding the national opioid crisis. She played a leading role in achieving the National Mortgage Settlement that ultimately resulted in $56 billion in total relief nationally. In a tremendous victory for Florida, Bondi sued BP and other responsible parties in the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill case and settled for more than $2 billion in economic relief for Florida alone.
Since 2011, Bondi worked aggressively to shut down pill mills, combat opioid abuse, ban synthetic drugs, end human trafficking, test previously unprocessed sexual assault kits, develop a school safety app to prevent school shootings, recover more than $1 billion in consumer protection, antitrust, and false claims matters (not counting the National Mortgage Settlement and BP), obtain more than $870 million in settlements and judgments through the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, supervise the prosecution of hundreds of multi-judicial circuit criminal cases, defend Florida’s laws and constitution, and guard against federal overreach.
She has served on numerous boards, including: President’s Commission on Combatting Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis; Chair, Florida Statewide Council on Human Trafficking; Co-chair of the Substance Abuse Committee for the National Association of Attorneys General; and the Florida Constitutional Revision Commission.
Pam has also received numerous awards and accolades, including: the 2017 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Award for Excellence in Fighting Fraud, Waste, and Abuse; the
2018 Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association Furtherance of Justice Award; 2018 Drug Free America Lifetime Achievement Award; 2013 Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida Champion of Independent Education in Florida; and the 2012 National Association of Attorneys General President’s Award.
Bondi is a fourth-generation Floridian who spent more than 18 years as a prosecutor, trying cases ranging from domestic violence to capital murder. With her successful first-time run for office in 2010, Bondi became the first female Attorney General in Florida’s history.
