Montana. Attorney General's Office

The Montana Attorney General was originally authorized under the Organic Act of 1864 which established Montana as a territory. The 1889 Constitution established the office as an elective executive office. The duties of the Attorney General included prosecuting and defending all cases to which the State or any county was a party; enforcing judgements reached in such cases; supervising county attorneys; giving opinions on legal issues to state agencies, the legislature, and county officials; to bid on property in the name of the state; and to serve ex officio on a variety of boards and commissions incluing the Board of Examiners, the Board of Land Commissioners, the Board of Education, the Board of Equalization, the Board of State Prison Commissioners, the Board of Pardons, and others. While the specifics of the the duties have changed over the years, the general principal that the Attorney General is the attorney for the state, has remained constant. As the complexities of state government have increased the Attorney General has acquired a staff of Assistant Attorneys General to handle most of the work. Many of these are assigned to specific agencies. Among the Attorneys General during the period of these records were Albert J. Galen (1905-1913), S.C. Ford (1917-1921), L.A. Foot (1924-1933), Harrison J. Freeborn (1937-1941), R.V. Bottomly (1942-1949), Arnold Olsen (1949-1957), and Forrest Anderson (1957- ).

From the guide to the Montana Attorney General's Office Records, 1893-1969, (Montana Historical Society Archives)

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