George B. Thatcher - Democrat, Appointed

16th Nevada Attorney General

Term 1:  December 5, 1912-January 4, 1915 (Appointed)
Term 2:  January 4, 1915-January 6, 1919 (Elected)  

 Biography  

George Bayard Thatcher, the son of George W. Thatcher and Mary E. (Madigan) Thatcher, was born on July 28, 1882, in Denver, Colorado.  After graduating from the University of Colorado law school in 1904, Thatcher moved to Tonopah, Nevada, where he opened a law practice.

While in private law practice in Tonopah, the Nye County District Court, on May 14, 1912, appointed Thatcher to represent Andriza (Andrew) Mircovich for the premeditated, stabbing murder of John Gregorovich, the executor of Mircovich's cousin's estate. Mircovich, convicted on June 12, 1912, of the murder, was sentenced to death. 

^{Source:  Nevada State Library and Archives, Carson City, Nevada} 

A new 1911 state statute allowed Mircovich to choose between being hanged or shot by a firing squad.  He chose to be shot.  Ironically, Attorney General Thatcher was invited to witness the execution of his former client, Mircovich.  Thatcher's invitation is marked "Not Transferable".

^{Source:  Nevada State Library and Archives, Carson City, Nevada}  

Mircovich was the first and only Nevada state prisoner executed by Nevada's infamous "shooting machine" on May 14, 1913. [1]  

Acting Lieutenant Governor Gilbert Ross appointed Thatcher as Nevada's 16th Attorney General on December 6, 1912, to fill the unexpired term of Cleveland H. Baker, who died in office on December 5, 1912.

After Thatcher's appointment as Attorney General, memories of the recent death of Attorney General Baker caused some public consternation.  From the San Francisco Call, Volume 113, Number 25, 25 December 1912:

Incumbent Thatcher later ran for a regular term as Nevada Attorney General in the November 3, 1914, general election. 

After leaving the Nevada Attorney General's Office, Thatcher also is noted for being a prominent divorce attorney in the divorce capital of the United States-Reno, Nevada-during the late 1920's and through the 1930's.  Thatcher's clients included Hollywood sensation Carole Lombard in her 1933 divorce from Hollywood actor William Powell (Lombard then went on to marry Clark Gable).  Thatcher also represented Woolworth Dime Stores' heiress Barbara Hutton in her 1935 divorce from Alexis Mdivani.

Thatcher continued his practice of law in Reno, Nevada, until his death on October 15, 1946, in San Francisco, California.  From Thatcher's obituary in the Nevada State Journal Oct 16, 1946, page 14, it was reported that "[b]esides his wife, who was at his bedside when death came, he leaves a son, John P. Thatcher, a Reno attorney who recently returned from the armed services, and a daughter, Mrs. Dennis Houge of Boise, Idaho.  He leaves six grandchildren."

Election of 1914  

Elected as Nevada's 19th Attorney General on November 3, 1914, Thatcher (Democrat) received 9,940 (49.3%) of the 20,164 votes cast; George Springmeyer (Progressive) received 6,017 (29.8%) votes; and Richard A. McKay (Republican) received 4,207 (20.9%) votes. [2]  

Office Administration and Duties  

During this term, Thatcher had one Deputy Attorney General, E.T. Patrick, and a stenographer.

^{Source: Nevada State Library and Archives, Carson City, Nevada.}  

Budgets for the Nevada Attorney General's Office for the 1913-1915, 1915-1917, and 1917-1919 state biennial fiscal periods were as follows: 

The 1913 Nevada State Legislature added the following duties for the Attorney General:

The 1915 Nevada State Legislature added these duties for the Attorney General:

The 1917 Nevada State Legislature added these duties:

• The Attorney General (along with the District Attorneys) is to enforce a state statue prohibiting a female employee to work not more than eight hours in a 24-hour period or 56-hours a week (perishable food worker, nurses, and nurses in training exempted).  Also, the employer is to provide "suitable seats" to allow the female employees to sit whenever possible (Statutes of Nevada 1917, Chapter 14, Section 3, page 17).  
• The Attorney General ". . . is authorized, empowered, and directed . . . (to take legal action) . . . to prevent or restrain the pollution of any public stream or streams in the State of Nevada . . ." (1917 Statutes of Nevada, Chapter 49, Section 2, page 51).  The Attorney General is to be a member of an advisory board committee to carry out this act (Statutes of Nevada 1917, Chapter 49, Section 5, page 52).  
• The Attorney General ". . . is hereby authorized to directed to prepare, or have prepared under his supervision, a schedule showing the changes in the Revised Laws of Nevada 1912 . . . and have same printed in suitable form, and to distribute the same gratuitously to all proper applicants thereof . . . " (Statutes of Nevada 1917, Chapter 143, Section 1, pages 241).   
• The Nevada State Board of Investments was created with the Attorney General as a member thereof and to provide legal advice (Statutes of Nevada 1917, Chapter 212, Section 2, pages 399-400).