Herbert Slatery speaks about his appointment as attorney general in the Tennessee Supreme Court chamber in Nashville on Sept. 15.NASHVILLE — Herbert Slatery III was sworn in today as Tennessee’s first Republican state attorney in 144 years in a ceremony shared by his now-former boss, Gov. Bill Haslam, and state Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee.
The swearing-in ceremony took place in the state Capitol’s Old Supreme Court Chamber.
Slatery, a 62-year-old Knoxville lawyer, is the 27th white male to become Tennessee’s top lawyer. He previously had been Haslam’s legal counsel.
He replaces Bob Cooper, a Democrat and Chattanooga native who sought reappointment to a second eight-year term but was spurned by the five Supreme Court justices that make the appointment.
Cooper sat in the audience.