Rhode Island Attorney General Elected Head Of AG Association

June 20, 2008 10:48 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch won the unanimous support of members of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) Thursday night to become the group's first president from the nation's smallest state.

Lynch, on his second term as attorney general, will succeed outgoing president, Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, and serve as the head of the century-old association for a year. He formally accepted his post during a dinner in Newport, telling members, "To be unanimously selected from such as a small state to lead such a large association is really humbling," according to the Providence Journal.

"I am enlisting the assistance of my colleagues and good corporate citizens, and marshalling the resources of NAAG and other organizations, to increase protections, decrease risks, and encourage a more just and secure world for our children," Lynch also said in a written statement on the association's website. "We will continue our work in fostering a safer social networking environment and in preventing predators and other criminals from using cyberspace as their own personal playgrounds."

The NAAG is an organization of attorneys general from all 50 states as well as general counsels of Washington, D.C. and U.S. territories.