About Attorney General William J. Schneider

Attorney General Schneider is a career prosecutor, a retired U.S. Army officer, and a former Assistant Republican Leader in the Maine House of Representatives. His public service career began at the United States Military Academy at West Point, from which he graduated in 1981. He served with distinction in the U.S. Army, earning his Special Forces Tab, Ranger Tab, and Senior Airborne Wings, and being awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. He retired due to a service-connected injury.

After working for an engineering company as a Project Manager on Defense Department physical security programs for several years, Mr. Schneider attended the University of Maine Law School, graduating with honors in 1993. He served for the next five years as an Assistant Maine Attorney General and prosecutor on the Maine Drug Task Force, bringing cases against drug traffickers in Maine Superior Courts around the state. Bill received several commendations for his work.

In 1998, Mr. Schneider ran for and won the seat in the Maine House of Representatives, representing Durham and parts of Brunswick and Lisbon. He served on the Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary and several special committees. In his second term, he was elected Assistant Republican Leader, serving on the Legislative Council, House Elections Committee, and several task forces.

After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Mr. Schneider was recruited to serve as the federal Anti-Terrorism Coordinator in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine. He has served as an Assistant United States Attorney since then, conducting investigations and working with local, state, federal and international partners to fight the threat of terrorism. In addition, he has handled a wide variety of civil and criminal cases, including defending the U.S. against immigration appeals by illegal aliens and prosecuting criminals from violent offenders to illegal aliens. Mr. Schneider was also selected to serve on the Guantanamo Review Task Force.

Mr. Schneider’s other community involvement includes, among other things, service on the Maine Board of Bar Overseers, teaching at Harvard Law School’s Trial Advocacy Workshop, and his work on several Boards of Directors of community service organizations.

Attorney General Schneider was elected by the 125th Maine Legislature and was sworn into office on January 6, 2011 as Maine’s 56th Attorney General.