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 1,3520th 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 agri-
                businesses.

                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:

1. Fisher, Benjamin, "Dubuque Native Now Longest-Serving State Attorney General in U. S. History, Telegraph Herald, January 11, 2020, p. 5A

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/