Steve Marshall | |
|---|---|
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| 48thAttorney General of Alabama | |
| Assumed office February 10, 2017 | |
| Governor | Robert Bentley Kay Ivey |
| Preceded by | Luther Strange |
| District Attorney ofMarshall County | |
| In office 2001 – February 17, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Ronald Thompson |
| Succeeded by | Everette Johnson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Steven Troy Marshall (1964-10-26)October 26, 1964 (age 61) Atmore, Alabama, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic (before 2011) Republican (2011–present) |
| Spouse(s) | Bridgette Gentry (died 2018) |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (BA) University of Alabama (JD) |
| Signature |  |
Steven Troy Marshall[1] (born October 26, 1964) is an American lawyer serving as the 48thattorney general of Alabama. He was appointed in February 2017 by GovernorRobert J. Bentley to fill the vacancy created by previous attorney generalLuther Strange's appointment to theUnited States Senate. He was elected to a full term in2018, and was re-elected in2022. He previously served as district attorney inMarshall County for 16 years.
In May 2025, he announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate inthe 2026 election to replaceTommy Tuberville, who is running forgovernor.[2]
Marshall was born inAtmore, Alabama, the only child of Conrad Marshall, a representative for a sporting goods manufacturer, and Mary Jo Marshall (née' Everette),[3] a secretary. He graduated fromPinecrest High School inSouthern Pines, North Carolina, and earned a bachelor's degree in American studies from theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1987.[4] He then earned aJ.D. degree at theUniversity of Alabama School of Law, and was admitted to the Alabama State Bar in 1990.[4]
Marshall practiced law inBirmingham andMontgomery in the firm of Maynard Cooper and Gale P.C. and then moved toGuntersville where he started the firm of McLaughlin & Marshall. He was district representative for Alabama and Georgia in theAmerican Bar Association. In addition to private practice, he served as a legal analyst for theAlabama House of Representatives, as prosecutor for theArab andAlbertville municipal courts and as municipal attorney for Arab.[4]
In 2001, on the retirement of Ronald Thompson, he was appointedMarshall CountyDistrict Attorney byAlabama GovernorDon Siegelman,[4] the second youngest district attorney in the state at the time.[5] Marshall was unopposed in three subsequent elections.[6][7] As district attorney, he assisted in passage of the Brody Act, which makes injury to a fetus an offense punishable in addition to any injury to the mother,[5] and of a state law requiring a driver's license for the purchase ofephedrine andpseudoephedrine, ingredients used in manufacturingcrystal meth.[4]
In 2011, after serving for ten years as Marshall County district attorney, Marshall officially changed his political party affiliation from theDemocratic Party to theRepublican Party.[8]
Marshall was appointed Attorney General of Alabama by GovernorRobert J. Bentley in February 2017, to fill the vacancy caused byLuther Strange's appointment to theUnited States Senate.[6][7][9] He was elected to a full term in 2018, defeating former attorney generalTroy King in a Julyrun-off election.[5]
In August 2017,Birmingham MayorWilliam A. Bell draped aConfederate memorial with plastic and surrounded it with plywood with the rationale that the county should not glorify such memorials. Marshall sued Bell and the city for violating theAlabama Memorial Preservation Act, which prohibits the "relocation, removal, alteration, or other disturbance of any monument on public property that has been in place for 40 years or more".[5][10][11]
In July 2017, Marshall and others joined an effort led byTexas Attorney GeneralKen Paxton promising legal action if the PresidentDonald Trump administration did not terminate theDeferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy that had been put into place by PresidentBarack Obama.[12][13] Tennessee attorney generalHerbert Slatery subsequently reversed Marshall's position.[14]
In 2018, Marshall's opponent, Troy King, accused him of violating campaign finance laws by accepting money from a banned political action committee. Marshall's campaign denied any wrongdoing and said King's allegations were a "desperate ploy from a flailing campaign."[15]
As of 2018 Marshall is co-chair of Alabama governorKay Ivey's Opioid Overdose and Addiction Council.[16]
In 2019, Marshall and 16 other attorneys general did not support the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act (H.R. 1595), sponsored by U.S. representativeEd Perlmutter (D-Colo.), which would permit marijuana-related businesses in states and territories to use the banking system.[17]
In June 2020, Marshall threatened to prosecute the city ofMobile and levy a $25,000 fine for removing aStatue of Raphael Semmes duringGeorge Floyd protests, if the removal became permanent.[18]
In October 2020, Marshall successfully led a challenge to theSupreme Court of the United States which struck down a federal court-order allowing curbside voting in Alabama as an accommodation for voters worried about contractingCOVID-19.[19]
Marshall declined to throw out the conviction of death row inmateToforest Johnson, after Johnson's supporters claimed weaknesses in the case against him.[20][21] A Jefferson County conviction integrity unit flagged Johnson's case, leading the county's district attorney to recommend that Johnson be given a new trial.[22] Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Drayton Nabers Jr. and former Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley called for throwing out the conviction.[23]
In March 2022, Marshall created controversy by refusing to acknowledgeJoe Biden as the "duly elected and lawfully serving" President of the United States during theSenate confirmation hearings on the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.[24][25]
In August 2023, Marshall argued that people or groups who assist a woman in leaving the state for purposes of obtaining an abortion could be legally prosecuted. His office wrote in a court filing that, “[a]n elective abortion performed in Alabama would be a criminal offense; thus, a conspiracy formed in the State to have that same act performed outside the State is illegal.”[26]
Following a 2024ruling from theAlabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos could be considered children, Marshall issued a statement in February that he had no intentions of prosecuting healthcare facilities or families involved within vitro fertilization.[27]
On February 25, 2024, aimprovised explosive device was detonated outside of Marshall's office in Montgomery.[28][29] No one was harmed in the event.[30] According to theFBI, the "device was used as a weapon against property and/or to cause injury/death".[29] Prosecutors stated that the explosive contained a "substantial number of nails and other shrapnel to increase its destructive capability".[31]
A 26-year-old man fromIrondale, Alabama was later arrested and charged in connection with the bombing. Prosecutors stated that prior to the bombing, the suspect had been spotted placing stickers on government buildings, displaying "antifa, anti-police and anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement sentiments" and had expressed "belief that violence should be directed against the government".[32][31] The suspect faces between five and twenty years in prison if convicted.[33]
Marshall leads the Rule of Law Defense Fund, a nonprofit organization active since 2014,[34] which is affiliated with the Republican Attorneys General Association.
The Rule of Law Defense Fund, helped organized protests supporting PresidentDonald Trump on January 6, 2021, which claimed election fraud or irregularities, and sought to overturn the2020 election which Trump lost toJoe Biden. The protests precededriots at the U.S. Capitol.[35] Marshall issued a statement condemning violence at the Capitol on January 6.[35]
Marshall is an elder at LifePoint Church in Albertville and has participated inmissionary work in India.[4][5] He was married to Bridgette Gentry Marshall, and they had one daughter together.[4] Bridgette Marshall died by suicide on June 24, 2018, after "a long struggle with mental illness" and addictions. In 2022 he married Tammy Pope and together they share three children: Faith Marshall, John Millan Gaston and Benen Gaston.[16][36]
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| Preceded by | Republican nominee forAttorney General of Alabama 2018,2022 | Most recent |
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| Preceded by | Attorney General of Alabama 2017–present | Incumbent |
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