Herbert Slatery sworn in as Tennessee’s 27th AG
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Herbert Slatery (SLAY-tur-ee) has been sworn in as Tennessee’s 27th attorney general, the first Republican to hold the office since Reconstruction.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Sharon Lee and Republican Gov. Bill Haslam administered the oath to Slatery at the state Capitol on Wednesday.
Tennessee is the only state where the Supreme Court appoints the attorney general. The five justices on Sept. 15 named Slatery to an eight-year term.
Slatery is a former chairman of the Knoxville law firm Egerton, McAfee, Armistead & Davis, where he specialized in private business transactions and local government organizations.
As legal counsel to the Haslam administration, Slatery played a lead role in passing new laws capping payouts in lawsuits and changing the way injured employees can pursue workers’ compensation claims.
Tennessee’s last Republican attorney general, Thomas M. Coldwell, served from 1865 to 1870.
