Following the appointment of Luther Strange to the U.S. Senate, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley selected Steve Marshall to serve as the next state attorney general. At 52 years old, the new attorney general previously served as the District Attorney for Marshall County for 16 years. 

Marshall’s appointment was announced Friday, and he  will hold the position until a 2018 election. Bentley interviewed seven other candidates, all of whom spoke highly of Marshall’s accomplishments, character and ability to do the job.

“Steve is a well-respected district attorney with impeccable credentials and strong conservative values,” Bentley said during the announcement of Marshall’s selection.

Marshall, who switched from the Democratic to the Republican Party in 2011, was the first attorney to ever prosecute a double-murder charge in the case of killing of a pregnant woman.

Marshall is a graduate of The University of Alabama School of Law.