After law school, Wrigley served as a judicial law clerk in Delaware, after which he became an assistant district attorney in
Philadelphia, serving in that capacity for five years before returning to North Dakota. On August 27, 2018, his nomination was sent to the
United States Senate. His nomination was not acted upon during the
115th United States Congress. He was renominated in February 2019. On February 28, 2019, his nomination was unanimously reported out of committee by
voice vote. On April 11, 2019, his nomination was unanimously confirmed by
voice vote by the full Senate. On April 17, 2019, he was sworn into office as the United States attorney for a second time. On February 8, 2021, the Biden administration directed the United States attorneys were to resign their posts, as is routine during a presidential transition. On February 23, 2021, Wrigley announced his resignation, effective February 28, 2021.
Lieutenant governor On November 4, 2010, then-
Lieutenant Governor Jack Dalrymple designated Wrigley as his successor once his transition of the governor's office was completed (then-Governor
John Hoeven had just been elected to the
U.S. Senate). Wrigley had announced on December 30, 2021, that he would run for a full term in the
2022 election. Wrigley won a full term in the November general election, receiving 71% of the votes cast. Wrigley was put into the public eye in the aftermath of the
2023 shooting of Fargo police officers in which he released the
bodycam footage from Officer Zach Robinson of the shooting, information on the perpetrator, and further information on the investigations incredibly early into the case. He received praise for his swift work with the case. Later in the year, Wrigley reported that the state crime lab had completed the backlog of sexual assault examination kits in October. In the aftermath of the indictment of
Ray Holmberg, Wrigley shared information that involved his predecessor,
Wayne Stenehjem, not “saving himself” from the case. This especially was the case after a long period of time where Stenehjem's government emails with relation to the case were deleted after his death. Wrigley also has plans to investigate everyone who had knowledge of any of Holmberg's activities and conduct. Crime reports from 2023, a year into his term, showed North Dakota had received a small uptick in violent crime and theft. Wrigley himself attributed the increase to general population increase and law enforcement position vacancies. Before the
2024 North Dakota elections, Wrigley engaged in a series of efforts to fight a state court ruling that the
Indian Reservations within the state, specifically the
Spirit Lake and
Turtle Mountain tribes, be given their own specific legislative district. Wrigley defended the states position in appealing to the
United States Supreme Court with the argument that the court hasn't ruled on whether a state's attempt to satisfy a federal law, the Voting Rights Act, satisfies the Equal Protection Clause. The states arguments failed, and the redistricting would go into effect. In May 2024, Wrigley joined Republican attorneys general from other states in litigation against the
Biden administration's interpretational ruling on
Title IX, the administrations argument being that Title IX would allow
transgender students to participate in the gendered sport of their choice.
Democrats in the state have been critical of the attorney general's office continuing increase of spending since Wrigley took office. ==Personal life==