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 [log in to unmask] Visit the Library of Virginia's web site at http://www.lva.lib.va.us To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html