Bryan names Denise George attorney general and proposes six-year term for office

Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. named Denise George as Virgin Islands attorney general and announced proposed legislation to establish six-year terms for the territory’s attorneys general during a press conference on March 28, 2019, at the Arthur Abel Complex in Frederiksted.

George, also known as George Counts, had worked for 18 years in the Virgin Islands Department of Justice as an assistant attorney general and trial attorney in criminal, civil, family, juvenile, white-collar and public-corruption matters, according to Government House.

Government House said George also served as director of the White Collar Crime and Public Corruption Division and had prosecuted cases involving embezzlement, forgery, fraud, racketeering and public corruption. It also said she was a member of the Child Abuse Task Force and co-authored the Virgin Islands’ first criminal child abuse and neglect statute.

Bryan said the proposed bill would keep the attorney general within the executive branch but set a six-year term and allow removal only for cause. Under the proposal, a governor would be required to justify removing an attorney general before the end of the term, and the attorney general would be allowed to challenge the removal in court.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/governor-bryan-names-attorney-general-proposes-six-year-term-for-usvi-attorneys-general/