The Attorney General’s Office offers a new tool for Ohio gun buyers: a database that lists the serial numbers of firearms that have been reported stolen. ... 855-BCI-OHIO Settle a debt: 877-607-6400. AG YOST'S TOP PRIORITES Visit our page to LEARN MORE. ... State & Local Government; Formal Opinions; Ohio School Threat Assessment Training ...
Led by the state’s chief law officer, the Attorney General’s Office has played a vital role in shaping Ohio’s past and present. Since his inauguration in January 2019, current Attorney General Dave Yost and his 1,500-person staff have been working to help chart a strong future for Ohioans by fighting injustice, righting wrongs and otherwise protecting the state and its families.
Attorney General Dave Yost Dave Yost became Ohio’s 51st Attorney General on January 14, 2019, bringing to the office his extensive experience rooting out fraud, holding the corrupt accountable and reforming government. Yost earned his undergraduate degree from The Ohio State University and law degree from Capital University.
Administration - Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost About AG > Administration Administration Who We Are Brenda Rinehart First Assistant Attorney General Brenda L. Rinehart oversees the legal operations of the office.
State Auditor of Ohio | |
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Seal of the State Auditor | |
Incumbent Keith Faber since January 14, 2019 | |
Style | The Honorable |
Term length | Four years, two term limit |
The attorney general 's principal duties were to give legal advice to the state government, to represent the state in legal matters, and to advise the state's county prosecutors.
The office of the Attorney General was first created by the Ohio General Assembly by statute in 1846. The attorney general 's principal duties were to give legal advice to the state government, to represent the state in legal matters, and to advise the state's county prosecutors. Originally, the attorney general was appointed by the legislature.
In November 2014, Ohio Attorney General DeWine secured a $22 million settlement from the credit score company ScoreSense, which is owned by the company One Technologies. DeWine had filed civil charges against the company along with the Illinois attorney general and Federal Trade Commission.
According to Article III, Section 1 of the state Constitution, the attorney general in Ohio is elected every four years in midterm election years (e.g. 2018, 2022, 2026, 2030, etc.).
The attorney general provides legal representation and advice to all state government departments, agencies and commissions, provides legal opinions at the request of other public officials, and handles all criminal appeals from state trial courts.
The Ohio Constitution establishes the office of the attorney general in Article III, Section 1 : The executive department shall consist of a governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, auditor of state, treasurer of state, and an attorney general, who shall be elected on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, ...
No person shall hold the office of governor for a period longer than two successive terms of four years. No person shall hold any one of the offices of lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer of state, attorney general, or auditor of state for a period longer than two successive terms of four years.
As established in Article III, Section 19 of the Ohio Constitution, the attorney general's annual salary is legally fixed and may not be raised or decreased effective during the current term. The attorney general's salary is set by Title 1, Chapter 141 of the Ohio Revised Code.
Article III, Section 18 of the state constitution addresses vacancies in state offices. In the event of a vacancy, the governor appoints a successor to serve until the next general election in an even numbered year that occurs more than 40 days after the seat becomes vacant.
Deputy Attorney General for Major Litigation#N#As Deputy Attorney General for Major Litigation, Jonathan Blanton works directly with the Ohio Solicitor General as well as the Antitrust, Constitutional Offices, Consumer Protection, and Charitable Law sections of the Attorney General’s Office.#N#Blanton manages some of the office’s highest-profile civil matters, including ongoing litigation against a number of opioid manufacturers and pharmaceutical distributors. He has served as a subject-matter expert and trainer for the National Association of Attorneys General on various topics, including tactics for maximizing the effectiveness of prescription drug monitoring programs, regulating medical professionals, and developing and litigating claims against pharmaceutical supply-chain participants.#N#Before joining Attorney General Yost’s administration, Blanton served as chief of the office’s Consumer Protection Section for more than four years. A litigator at heart, he has extensive experience in investigating and prosecuting felony criminal cases, including 10 years as the Jackson County prosecutor.#N#Blanton is a graduate of Ohio University and the University of Kentucky College of Law.
First Assistant Attorney General#N#Brenda L. Rinehart oversees the legal operations of the office. She uses skills acquired during her years of experience in both the private and public sectors to manage pressing legal issues and to ensure that operational needs are met.#N#Rinehart previously worked for seven years as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. While in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, she handled civil litigation and bankruptcy matters and assisted with select criminal litigation.#N#She has worked at all levels of government, starting her career with the state during the final administration of Gov. James A. Rhodes. She worked for city and county governments as a department director, staff attorney and in various other positions.#N#Rinehart also served for eight years as chief of staff for then-State Auditor Dave Yost. In that role, she focused on the administrative and legal operations of the office, overseeing the day-to-day work and assisting with implementation of Auditor Yost’s policy initiatives.#N#Rinehart holds a bachelor’s degree from Ohio University and a law degree from Capital University. She has been admitted to practice in Ohio, U.S. District Court, U.S. Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States.
During that time, she also served as a special prosecutor in numerous criminal cases in counties throughout the state.#N#Earlier in her career, O’Brien served as an assistant attorney general in the Attorney General’s Office and as an assistant prosecutor in the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office . Prior to those roles, she worked as a staff attorney for the clinical programs within the Ohio State University College of Law, for the Neighborhood Legal Assistance Program and for Advocates for Basic Legal Equality.#N#In 2016, O’Brien was recognized as Ohio’s Outstanding Prosecuting Attorney for her dedication to justice. She has been an active member of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorney’s Association for nearly a decade, serving as president in 2019, and has given presentations on a wide range of prosecutorial matters and other legal topics.#N#O’Brien has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Northwestern University and a law degree from the University of Toledo. She is licensed to practice in Ohio, South Carolina, the Northern and Southern District Courts of Ohio, the District Court of South Carolina, and the 4th and 6th circuits of the U.S. Court of Appeals.#N#O’Brien and her husband, Bill, live in Delaware County.
Deputy Attorney General#N#Formerly a prosecutor in the Health Care Fraud Unit of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, Cynthia Dungey has rejoined the office as the deputy attorney general responsible for managing the Civil Rights, Labor, PUCO, Taxation, Transportation and Workers’ Compensation sections.#N#Dungey came to the Attorney General’s Office in 2019 from the Ohio Department of Youth Services, where, as deputy director of Community Engagement and Reentry, she planned for the successful return of youths to their homes and communities.#N#Prior to that, she served as director of the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services for five years and as the federal designee responsible for supervising the state’s public assistance, workforce development, unemployment insurance, child and adult protective services, adoption, child care, and child support programs.#N#She previously worked for ODJFS as the chief of staff of Medicaid, managing daily operations and, with a workforce of 500-plus, maintaining 70,000 active providers and issuing multimillion-dollar payments weekly as reimbursement for services to 1.5 million people.#N#Dungey began her first stint with the Attorney General’s Office in 1996 in the Crime Victims Section, then worked for five years in the Health Care Fraud Section.#N#In all, Dungey has more than 20 years of experience in administering federally regulated programs, developing and implementing state laws and administrative rules; working with government officials, health care providers and stakeholders to improve delivery systems; and identifying millions in inefficiencies, fraud, waste and abuse in health care, public assistance and other government programs.#N#Dungey has a bachelor’s degree in political science and sociology from DePauw University, a law degree from the Ohio Northern University College of Law, and an honorary doctorate of community leadership from Franklin University.
Shawn Busken, director of outside counsel for Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, is responsible for the engagement, retention and oversight of private sector attorneys appointed to represent state entities (agencies, colleges, universities, retirement systems, boards and commissions) and to work on securities cases and all other contingency cases.
Carrie Bartunek, director of external affairs and senior policy adviser for Attorney General Dave Yost, manages the office’s external relations and outreach efforts, overseeing its regional liaisons across the state.
Yost graduated from Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism. He earned a Juris Doctor from the Capital University Law School.
After earning his bachelor's degree, Yost became a journalist with the Columbus Citizen-Journal. He later served in senior positions within the administration of Columbus Mayor Buck Rinehart and Ohio Governor George Voinovich. Yost was appointed Delaware County Auditor in 1999. In 2003, he became the Delaware County Prosecutor.
Yost and his wife Darlene live in Franklin County, Ohio. They have three children and three grandchildren.
Yost was elected Ohio's 32nd state auditor in November 2010. In January 2017 he announced he was running for Ohio Attorney General in 2018.
Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:
Dave Yost defeated Steven Dettelbach in the general election for Attorney General of Ohio on November 6, 2018.
The Ohio Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Ohio in the United States. The office is filled by general election, held every four years. The current Ohio Attorney General is Republican Dave Yost.