from
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
DEPUTY OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. An officer appointed by the attorney
general, who is to hold his office during the pleasure of the latter, and
whose duty it is to perform, within a specified district, the duties of the
attorney general. He must be a member of the bar. In Pennsylvania, by an act
of assembly, passed May 3, 1850, district attorneys are elected by the
people, who are required to perform the duties which, before that act, were
performed by deputies of the attorney general.