MILLER, Thomas J.

Attorney General Thomas J. Miller

MILLER, Thomas J. (Dubuque, IA, August 11, 1944- ). Miller was elected the Iowa Attorney General on November 7, 1978, and was reelected every year thereafter. A graduate of WAHLERT CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL (1962) and LORAS COLLEGE (1966), Miller received his Juris Doctor degree from Harvard in 1969.

Miller served in VISTA from 1969 to 1970 and was a legislative assistant to U.S. Representative John Culver from 1970 to 1971. Miller taught at the University of Maryland School of Law and worked in the Baltimore Legal Aid Bureau from 1971 to 1973 before returning to McGregor to practice law. Under his leadership, the attorney general's office actively pursued cases of consumer fraud in Iowa.

During his years in state government, Attorney General became recognized as a strong advocate for the public:

                Protecting the public has always been one of Attorney General Miller's top priorities. 
                The Attorney General's office continues its strong record handling many of the state's 
                most important and difficult criminal prosecutions and arguing all of the state's criminal 
                appeals before the Iowa Supreme Court and Iowa Court of Appeals.  Mr. Miller and his office 
                also have focused on fighting juvenile crime and working for improvements in the juvenile 
                justice system.  The office also provides extensive assistance to victims of crime, including 
                crime victim compensation and support for local programs that aid victims.

                Protecting consumers is also one of Mr. Miller's highest priorities.  The Consumer Protection 
                Division in his office has helped hundreds of of thousands of Iowans with complaints about wide-
                ranging topics, including improper debt collection practices, telemarketing fraud and abuse, 
                charity fraud, predatory lending, mortgage, and vehicle complaints.  His office's undercover 
                telephone lines have helped reduce telemarketing crimes that cheat older Iowans and people all 
                over the nation.  Attorney General Miller has led major multi-state investigations and settlements 
                that resulted in millions of dollars in consumer relief to Iowans, and changes to the mortgage 
                servicing industry and subprime lenders.

                Working for farmers has always been a mission for Mr. Miller, who established the nation's first 
                farm division in an attorney general's office when he took office in 1978.  The Farm Division has 
                led the way in successful cases against agricultural chemical companies, helped hundreds of farmers 
                get a fair shake from a huge pipeline project cutting across their farmland, led a group of states 
                insisting on compensation to farmers and elevators who suffer losses resulting from StarLink 
                genetically modified corn, and pushed for laws to protect farmers who enter contracts with large 
                agribusinesses.

                Attorney General Miller is known for his longtime fight on behalf of kids and taxpayers with his 
                campaign to reduce the enormous death toll and financial costs of tobacco addiction and disease.  
                He was a leader in the multistate settlement agreement that resulted in the tobacco industry paying 
                billions of dollars to the states and changing the way it conducts business. Now Attorney General 
                Miller is working to reduce youth addiction and the thousands of Iowans who die every year from 
                tobacco-related disease.

                Mr. Miller has a long record of achieving results through cooperation with other state attorneys 
                general and with local, state and federal officials, regardless of their political affiliation.  
                He has served as President of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) and received 
                NAAG's Wyman Award as the attorney general who contributed most to NAAG and its members.  He has 
                chaired several NAAG committees and led major multistate working groups working on tobacco issues, 
                antitrust enforcement, agriculture, and consumer protection.

In 1990 Miller was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for his party's nomination to run for the governorship of Iowa.

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Source:

Iowa Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General--Attorney General Tom Miller. Online: https://www.iowaattorneygeneral.gov/about-us/about-attorney-general-tom-miller/