In many years of researching in Virginia history, I have not seen
documentation for the selection of a king's attorney for a county. I
have seen local prosecutors sometimes referred to as deputy attorneys,
from whch I deduce that the king's attorney (that is to say, the
official who represented the Crown in the investigation or prosecution
of crimes) was almost certainly acting as a deputy of the attorney
general of the colony and therefore most likely designated by that
officer.

The attorney general received his appointment directly from the Crown
and was responsible for all the Crown's legal business in the colony.
For those serious crimes that required a real prosecutor, I suspect that
the attorney general designated a local attorney to act as his deputy.
Many times, though, the attorney general prosecuted in trials before the
General Court, which was the only court before which white defendants
could be prosecuted for serious offenses.

This same practice of appointment continued after the Revolution. A
glance at the Constitution of 1776 shows no mention of how local
prosecutors, who were thereafter called commonwealth's attorneys, were
to be named.

Brent Tarter
The Library of Virginia
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