State Attorneys General (AG) serve as the chief lawyers for their respective states and work to defend state sovereignty in a variety of contexts. They represent the interests of their states in court proceedings by defending state laws against legal challenges and, in many cases, enforcing state laws in both civil and criminal actions. They frequently are called upon to provide legal advice to state officials and to issue legal opinions on a range of issues. They also may oversee critical government programs, such as (in Texas) the state’s child support function. While similar to their federal counterpart—the U.S. Attorney General—these state officers perform functions that vary greatly from the federal context, specifically in three ways.