§1421g Establishment and maintenance of public bodies and offices

Summary

Under Guam law, the Governor must run and keep up public health services. That includes things like hospitals, clinics, and quarantine stations, and the Governor must make rules to stop disease from coming in or spreading. The government must also provide an adequate public school system and run public schools under Guam law. The government may create an Office of Public Prosecutor and an Office of Public Auditor, and those officers can be removed as Guam law allows. The Attorney General is the chief legal officer for Guam. When the job next becomes vacant, the Governor must appoint the Attorney General with the legislature’s approval, and the appointee serves at the Governor’s pleasure. Instead, the legislature can allow voters to elect the Attorney General in general elections after 1998 that elect the Governor. An elected Attorney General serves 4 years. The Attorney General can be removed by the people under section 1422d or for cause under laws the legislature makes. If an elected Attorney General leaves office, the Governor fills the spot by appointment if the vacancy is less than 6 months before a general election for that office. Otherwise a special election must be held no sooner than 3 months after the vacancy and no later than 6 months before a general election, with the Governor appointing a temporary replacement until the special election.