Page 16 - Delaware Lawyer - Winter 2022

FEATURE
Great Responsibility
Charles M. Oberly III
Great Power,
The ever-growing Delaware Department of Justice
In 1897, the Delaware Constitutional Convention enacted a new constitution. It provided for the election of the Attorney General.1 The size of the office was quite small as its responsibility was nearly entirely devoted to the prosecution of criminal cases. In fact, in 1900, Attorney General Robert White alone convicted 81 persons for larceny. It was not until 1907 that the Delaware General Assembly created the position of Deputy Attorney General,2 and it was not until the 1950s that the Attorney General’s office began to take on its present form of having both civil and criminal responsibilities.3
14 DELAWARE LAWYER WINTER 2022
When Januar Bove, Jr. became the Attorney General in 1958, the office consisted of only six dep- uties, three being in Wilmington.4 As for civil responsibilities, it was 1968 before the General Assembly prohib- ited state agencies from hiring out- side counsel not associated with the
Department of Justice absent approv- al of both the Attorney General and the Governor. Prior to that action by the legislature, “the majority of civil work was performed by attorneys hired directly by some state agen- cies or by private attorneys hired by the state.” 5