The Attorney General’s plan provides recommendations to prescribers and pharmacists who prescribe or dispense opioid prescriptions across West Virginia. It is designed to reduce misuse, while preserving legitimate patient access to necessary treatment.
Attorney General’s Best Practices Initiative. The first-of-its-kind initiative in West Virginia, aimed at eradicating prescription drug abuse by better equipping the state’s prescribers and pharmacists, has garnered broad support from stakeholders across the state and nation.
Tackling the opioid crisis has been a top priority for the West Virginia Attorney General’s Office since Attorney General Morrisey was sworn into office in January, 2013. As part of this effort, the Office conducted a multi-year investigation into federal regulators’ role in allowing excessive over-production of the prescription opioids that fueled this crisis.
The Attorney General of West Virginia is the chief legal advisor to the West Virginia state government and is the state's chief law enforcement officer. The office was created by Article VII, Section 1 of the first Constitution of West Virginia in 1863. Under the current state constitution (1872), the attorney general is an executive department ...
The attorney general represents the state in all claims processed by the United States Court of Claims, prosecutes civil actions as prescribed by law, enforces the state consumer, antitrust, and preneed burial statutes, and enforces the West Virginia Human Rights Act and the West Virginia Fair Housing Act. The attorney general is also an ex officio ...
Their election can be held at any time as prescribed by law. The attorney general's term of office is four years and commences on the first Monday after the second Wednesday of the month of January following their election.
^ Aquilla B. Caldwell was elected attorney general on May 28, 1863, but did not take office until statehood on June 20, 1863.
The constitution further specifies that the attorney general shall reside in the seat of state government, Charleston, during their term of office. In Charleston, they are to maintain public records, books, and papers pertaining to their office, and perform all duties prescribed by state law. As of 2012, the attorney general receives a salary ...
Caldwell was the first Republican to hold the office, and Joseph Sprigg of Hampshire County was the first Democrat. Darrell McGraw, who held the position from 1993–2013, is the longest-serving attorney general and served the most consecutive terms, being elected to the office five times.
In 1872 , when the second (and current) Constitution of West Virginia was enacted, the constitution averred that citizens residing in the state at the time of its enactment were also authorized to be elected or appointed as attorney general, regardless of the length of the residency in West Virginia.
The attorney general is the chief legal officer for the state of West Virginia, providing legal representation for all state agencies, officials, commissions, and boards.
The term begins on the first Monday after the second Wednesday of January next after the election.
In 2020, the attorney general received a salary of $95,000 according to the Council of State Governments.
The budget for the attorney general's office in Fiscal Year 2021 was $4,953,457.
The Attorney General Speaks for the legal interests of the State. Pursuant to the Attorney General's broad mission, the Office is responsible for providing skilled legal counsel and representation to the State, its officers, agencies, and boards on a wide range of legal matters.
No person, except citizens entitled to vote, shall be elected or appointed to any state, county or municipal office; but the governor and judges must have attained the age of thirty, and the attorney general and senators the age of twenty-five years, at the beginning of their respective terms of service; and must have been citizens of the state for five years next preceding their election or appointment, or be citizens at the time this constitution goes into operation.
If the office of attorney general becomes vacant, it is the duty of the governor to fill the position by appointment. The appointee serves until a new attorney general is elected.
Morrisey was elected Attorney General of West Virginia in 2012, becoming the first Republican to serve in the role since 1933. Running for the United States Senate in 2018, Morrisey won the Republican Party nomination, but was defeated by incumbent Democratic Senator Joe Manchin in the November general election.
West Virginia et al. v. EPA (challenged draft Clean Power Plan rule). On August 1, 2014, West Virginia and 12 states had filed suit to block the draft Clean Power Plan rule. On June 9, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejects Patrick Morrisey's challenge to draft Clean Power Plan rule, which he filed on September 3, 2014, as being premature, because the rule was a draft rule, not a final rule, and had not yet been published in the Federal Register.
American Farm Bureau v. EPA. On September 13, 2013, in American Farm Bureau Federation v. EPA, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania said that the EPA had the authority under the Clean Water Act to impose a total maximum daily load standard for pollutants and that the procedures established were consistent with the Administrative Procedure Act. This is contrary to the argument by Morrisey's amicus brief, which said that the "EPA's overreach in the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TDML) infringes states' traditional rights the Clean Water Act intended to protect."
In 2012, Morrisey ran for Attorney General of West Virginia against Darrell McGraw, a five-term incumbent. He defeated McGraw and was sworn in on January 14, 2013, making him the first Republican state Attorney General to serve in West Virginia since 1933.
Mingo Logan Coal v. EPA. On March 24, 2014, in Mingo Logan Coal Company v. EPA, the Supreme Court of the United States denied the petition for writ of certiorari. The Court rejected the argument in Morrisey's brief that said that the "EPA unlawfully vetoed permits issued by the United States Army Corps of Engineers ."
The Office of the Attorney General is pleased to provide summary tips and resources for consumers and businesses alike on many of West Virginia's consumer protection laws . This page is designed to be a one-stop resource for information about how consumers can protect themselves, where to go for help from the Office's Consumer Protection Division, and how to avoid the latest scams.
Option 1: Download and print the forms, fill it out by hand, and mail it (with any copies of documents related to the complaint) to: Office of the Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division, PO Box 1789, Charleston , WV 25326-1789.
Consumers who believe that they have been the victim of unlawful practices in the purchases of goods and services are first encouraged to fill out the appropriate form and return it to the West Virginia Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division.
Incumbent Patrick Morrisey defeated Sam Petsonk in the general election for Attorney General of West Virginia on November 3, 2020.
Sam Petsonk defeated Isaac Sponaugle in the Democratic primary for Attorney General of West Virginia on June 9, 2020.
Education: Sam earned his law degree from Washington & Lee University, and his college degree from Brandeis University.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey did not reply to a Gazette-Mail questionnaire nor a request for an interview.