text: List of attorneys general There have been four styles of selection of Pennsylvania Attorney General.  The first phase was colonial, with the first attorney general commissioned in 1683.  At the outbreak of the Revolution, the sitting attorney general, a loyalist, fled, and new attorneys general were appointed, under the Constitution of 1776, by the state president (or vice-president) with the Supreme Executive Council.  Under the new constitution of 1790, attorneys general were appointed by the governor, subject to approval by the legislature (similar to how the United States Attorney General is appointed by the president of the United States).  This remained in the Constitutions of 1838, 1874, and 1968.  In 1978, voters approved an amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution making the office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General an elected position, effective as of the general election of 1980.
  Note that before William Penn, there were attorneys general for New Sweden as early as 1643.
  Colonial attorneys general
  Under the influence of David Lloyd, who served 1686–1710, Pennsylvania developed its first judicial system.  Andrew Hamilton, who served 1717–1726, strongly influenced Pennsylvania law away from some aspects of the British system.
  John White
  Samuel Hersent
  John White
  David Lloyd
  John Moore
  Robert Assheton
  Paromlus Parmyter
  George Lowther
  Thomas Clarke
  Robert Quarry
  Henry Wilson
  Andrew Hamilton
  Joseph Growden Jr.
  John Kinsey
  Tench Francis Sr.
  Benjamin Chew
  Andrew Allen
  President/Council appointed attorneys general
  Attorneys general appointed between 1791 and 1920
  Attorneys general appointed between 1920 and 1980
  Occupants of the elected Pennsylvania Attorney General office (1981–present)