PROTECTING MICHIGAN'S CONSUMERS

Through innovations in management, Cox has proven he can expand the scope of the Attorney General's office and improve on the tradition of protecting Michigan's consumers.  Since January 2003, Cox's Consumer Protection Division returned a record $48.8 million to the citizens and the State of Michigan. 

During the same period, he prevented more than $1.95 billion in utility rate increases that would have come directly out of the pockets of Michigan's consumers and businesses.  In total, Cox's administration has collected more money for the citizens of Michigan than any prior Attorney General.  Cox successfully lobbied for Michigan's first Drug Price Website: www.michigandrugprices.com, a resource that allows consumers anywhere in Michigan to compare drug prices of 150 different medications at different pharmacies before purchase.  In addition to making prescription drug costs more affordable, Cox's office has recovered $94.5 million from drug manufacturers and pharmacies since January 2003.

FIGHTING FOR MICHIGAN'S CHILDREN

Within days of taking office, Attorney General Mike Cox created the Child Support Division, a first-of-its-kind state Attorney General program to collect child support.  By combining public awareness campaigns with targeted prosecutions, the Division collected over $60 million on behalf of more than 5,000 Michigan children.

Working in cooperation with local friends of the court and prosecutors across the state, Cox's program focuses on charging parents who have the ability to pay, but choose not to.  This credible threat of prosecution results in payment of both past due child support and increases compliance with current child support payments to keep families out of crises.

Cox's innovative efforts raised local and national awareness about the unpaid child support epidemic and its devastating consequences for Michigan's most vital resource, our children.  Leading by example, Cox's influence has been felt across the State and in the Michigan Legislature, which passed much-needed reforms to the state's child support laws. In 2004, Cox received the Golden Hearts Award from the Association for Children for Enforcement of Support, the nation's largest child support organization.

In addition to his groundbreaking work for Michigan children and child support, Cox has reorganized the Child and Public Protection Unit, making Michigan one of the most aggressive states in the nation to tackle the growing problem of Internet predators.

Since taking office, Cox continues to arrest more Internet predators - over 200 by fall of 2008 - than any state other than Texas.  Each time a predator is taken off the street, Michigan's children become a little bit safer.

SAFEGUARDING MICHIGAN'S CITIZENS 

Cox has set a new standard for the Attorney General's role as Chief Law Enforcement Officer.  The Criminal Division has sought justice for victims in every part of the State, and prosecuted criminals no matter when their crimes were committed.

In 2003, Cox formed the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) to uncover public corruption and solve cold case homicides. The OSI has also conducted more than 50 public corruption investigations.  For decades, one of the nation's most prolific serial killers escaped justice.  In 2004, the OSI successfully prosecuted Coral Watts for a 1979 Michigan murder and sent him to prison for life.  The Criminal Division also solved the famous, 18-year-old, "Missing Hunters" case,  in which two men disappeared without explanation.  The investigation resulted in their killers being sentenced to life in prison without parole.  The Department's "cold case" unit also solved the 28 year old unsolved murder of college student Janet Chandler, resulting in six murder convictions.  And two individuals were convicted of first degree murder in a 28-year old murder of an 11 year-old Flint youngster, Christopher Brown.

WATCHING OUT FOR MICHIGAN SENIORS

Michigan's population is aging, and Attorney General Mike Cox is committed to protecting Michigan seniors from abuse and neglect.  When a West Michigan nursing home patient died, the Attorney General's office filed criminal charges against specific employees and civil charges against the corporation.  The result was a unique settlement that actually raised standards of care for this corporation's nursing homes above the state standard and provided for an independent monitor to ensure future compliance.  The Attorney General's leadership raised the standard of care for thousands of vulnerable adults.

In an effort to battle health care fraud, Cox filed more than 100 criminal counts against the president of the largest supplier of prescription drugs to long-term care facilities in Michigan.  Civil charges were filed against his company.  The result was the largest Medicaid fraud recovery in Michigan history, more than $52 million.

In fact, throughout his time in office (5 3/4 years), Cox has collected more money (more than $108 million) than was collected by the Health Care Fraud Division in its first 24 years of existence (less than $20 million).

Attorney General Cox also drafted legislation providing a new tool in the fight against Medicaid fraud, the Medicaid Whistleblower Protection Act.  In addition to giving legal protection to whistleblowers, the legislation also provides financial incentives to those who assist in the investigation or prosecution of a violator of the Medicaid False Claims Act.

And the Attorney General's office conducted two groundbreaking, comprehensive studies revealing that almost 10 percent of employees who care for Michigan's vulnerable adults have criminal backgrounds, including weapons charges, drug offenses and criminal sexual conduct convictions.  As a result, Cox spearheaded the drafting and passage of legislation requiring mandatory Criminal Background Checks of employees in residential care facilities, including nursing homes, to safeguard Michigan seniors.

ENVIRONMENTAL WATCHDOG

Michigan is the Great Lakes State.  Our state is the only one entirely within the Great Lakes watershed and as such, Attorney General Cox is committed to protecting and preserving Michigan's unique environment.

Cox has been a leader in preserving Michigan's authority to prevent the diversion of Great Lakes water outside of the Great Lakes basin, which is critically important since the Great Lakes make up 95% of the United States' fresh water.

The Attorney General has also fought to protect the Great Lakes from Aquatic Nuisance species and biological pollutants by challenging the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate ballast water discharges.

In addition, the Attorney General's office argued before the United States Supreme Court to oppose efforts to restrict the Clean Water Act.  In front of our nation's highest court, Cox argued that the historically broad Clean Water Act protections for streams and wetlands should be preserved.

Attorney General Cox argued before the Michigan Supreme Court that the historic and treasured right of beach walking, enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of Michiganders and tourists each year, ought to be maintained.  Several key issues advanced by the Attorney General were adopted in the Supreme Court's opinion preserving the public interest in the Great Lakes' shorelines.

MIKE COX:  MICHIGAN'S ATTORNEY GENERAL

Born in 1961, Mike Cox graduated from Detroit's Catholic Central High School and entered the Marines.  After graduating from the University of Michigan Law School in 1989, he went on to work in the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office in Detroit.  Cox prosecuted organized crime cases ranging from public corruption to drug and gang-related homicides.  In addition to hundreds of bench trials, he tried more than 125 jury trials, with a conviction rate in excess of 90 percent.  In 2000, Cox was appointed Director of the Wayne County Prosecutor's Homicide Unit, which prosecuted approximately two-thirds of all homicides in Michigan.

Cox was first elected Attorney General in November 2002 and sworn into office on January 1, 2003.  He was re-elected in 2006.  He and his wife Laura, a former federal agent and current Wayne County Commissioner, have four children.