What does the attorney general do in Virginia?

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- In less than three weeks, Virginians will head to the polls to select the Democratic nominee for attorney general. 

However, do you know what the attorney general actually does in Virginia? 

“Incumbents often play up this idea of being a top cop as being the person who’s most responsible for safety and combating crime in the commonwealth, but that’s not really true,” Randolph-Macon Political Science Professor Rich Meagher told 8News. 

Meagher says it is true that the attorney general does investigate and prosecute some crimes. 

“So not your standard murders or robberies, but things like cyber crime, or child pornography, these are areas, sort of portfolios, that the attorney general is very much involved in trying to prosecute, trying to investigate,” Meagher said. 

However, Meagher adds that a lot of their work is done on the civil side. 

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“If anybody sues the governor or the commonwealth, then the attorney general represents the commonwealth or represents those constitutional officers in court,” Meagher explained. 

Meagher added that the attorney general writes important opinions on how state law should be interpreted and can challenge laws or policies enacted by the federal government. 

“If you think that the ideology of Virginia should be progressive or you think it should be more conservative, the attorney general gets to speak for Virginia in a lot of legal settings, and that can be flavored in a partisan and ideological way,” Meagher told 8News. 

The reason there is no Republican primary for attorney general is because incumbent Jason Miyares is the only Republican to run for the office.