Unlike U.S. attorneys and district attorneys, state attorneys general have broad geographic jurisdiction over the entire state they serve. But this state-wide authority is often counter balanced by statutory limitations restricting subject matter jurisdiction, especially for criminal matters.

While other prosecutors have unlimited subject matter jurisdiction over any crimes in their domain, state AGs commonly require referrals before they can bring criminal investigations and prosecutions. Legislated jurisdiction over criminal matters through a referral system can create statutory ambiguities that defense counsel may creatively leverage to successfully challenge a state AG’s jurisdiction.