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. On January 11, 2020 he began his 13520th day in office, the longest-serving attorney general in the history of the United States. (1) 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 
                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 multi-state 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/