
DATE: Tuesday, September 16, 1997           TAG: 9709160299

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: DECISION '97

SOURCE: BY LAURA LaFAY, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  112 lines

MORE THAN A TOP COP

Top cop. Chief law-enforcement officer. Justice in a suit. That's how most voters perceive Virginia's attorney general. The facts of the job, however, are slightly less glamorous.

Bureaucrat. Politician. Supervisor of a factory of lawyers. Their work: everything from generating legal opinions to representing the state's 240 agencies and boards to redrawing voting districts to collecting state debt.

But that doesn't prevent candidates running for the attorney general's job from acting like the job is all about crime.

Crime, it seems, is more interesting to the average voter than the state's legal housework.

``In politics, it doesn't matter what the truth is,'' explained University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato. ``What matters is what people believe the truth is.''

The office of attorney general is nothing if not political.

Current GOP gubernatorial candidate James S. Gilmore III built the foundation of his campaign on his initiatives and accomplishments as attorney general during the administration of Gov. George F. Allen. Gilmore quit the job June 11 to launch his bid for the governorship.

Mary Sue Terry, Allen's opponent in the 1993 gubernatorial election, served as attorney general for two governors. One of her bosses, Gov. Gerald Baliles, was also a former attorney general.

The last Virginia attorney general anyone can remember who didn't run for governor was Robert Y. Button, who served from 1962 to 1970.

Button, who argued doggedly against desegregation of the state's public schools, was perhaps hampered by a lack of charisma.

``Talk about dull,'' Sabato said. ``That guy made Gilmore look like a pop star.''

One drawback of an attorney general's office that serves as a political springboard, some say, is that legal issues faced by the state can become politicized.

Attorneys general ``are not just making legal decisions, they're making decisions that they believe will affect their political careers,'' says Kent Willis, director of the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

On the other hand, political scientist Tom Morris pointed out, the job is good training for a governor.

``The attorney general is very much a public official who operates at the conjunction of the political and legal elements of state government,'' said Morris, who is president of Emory & Henry College in southwestern Virginia.

``And that's what the office of governor is all about. Attorney general is very much a political office and each individual makes of it what he will.''

The Virginia attorney general's office employs about 140 lawyers and a support staff of 113. Its deputies oversee specialties like civil law, education and social services, and intergovernmental affairs.

One of the office's main functions is writing legal opinions for state agencies. Between 1994 and now, its lawyers formally issued 366 such opinions.

Assistant attorneys general are also charged with reviewing and analyzing all proposed new legislation, helping local authorities with money-laundering investigations, investigating and prosecuting Medicaid fraud and - a recently added duty - hounding deadbeat dads.

``Instead of representing General Motors, we're representing the state of Virginia,'' said current Attorney General Richard Cullen.

``Every aspect of the law imaginable is dealt with. If not on a weekly basis, then certainly on a monthly basis.''

Gilmore's tenure is an example.

During his term, lawyers in the office defended the Virginia Military Institute in its bid to remain a single-sex school, represented the state in a belated and thwarted attempt to sue Smithfield Foods for polluting the Pagan River and opposed federal regulation of tobacco sales to minors.

They declined a legislator's request to investigate whether the Christian Coalition was complying with state election laws, but did investigate the billing practices of the state's largest insurer, Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield.

When it comes to actual law enforcement, Cullen said, the most significant aspect of the attorney general's job is the platform that comes with it.

``You have the tallest bully pulpit,'' said Cullen, who took over the job when Gilmore quit in June.

``The attorney general can initiate criminal justice and law-enforcement reforms. . . . Whoever's sitting here can set the agenda. So it's legitimate for a candidate to run as a crusader or reformer of law enforcement.''

For his part, Gilmore headed the governor's commission on juvenile justice reform, lobbied for parole abolition, campaigned against church burning and wrote several constitutional amendments, including one mandating victims' rights.

To Morris, the freedom to crusade in such ways is the best part of the job.

``For a lawyer who enjoys politics, it's a wonderful office to hold,'' he said. ``You get to operate as the head lawyer of a huge law firm while at the same time undertaking political initiatives.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos

EARLEY

DOLAN

Graphic

WHOM WILL YOU HIRE?

TERM: Four years.

TERM LIMIT: None.

QUALIFICATIONS: Must be a United States citizen, at least 30

years old. Must be a resident of Virginia and have been admitted to

the state bar and a member for at least five years.

RESPONSIBILITIES: Provides all legal services to the state of

Virginia. Serves as consumer counsel.

INFORMAL RESPONSIBILITIES: Must serve or assign designee to serve