Bio
Attorney General Miller is serving in his 10th four-year term and is the longest currently serving attorney general in the nation.
He is well known for his work to prevent crime and assist crime victims, to protect consumers and to be an advocate for farmers. The Iowa Attorney General's office continues its strong record handling many of the state's most important and difficult criminal prosecutions and arguing all the state's criminal appeals before the Iowa Supreme Court and Iowa Court of Appeals. Attorney General Miller and his office have also 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.
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 multistate 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, Attorney General Miller 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 also created a 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.
He 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. Attorney General Miller has chaired several NAAG committees and led major multistate working groups working on tobacco issues, antitrust enforcement, agriculture and consumer protection.