• Criminal Complaints and Prosecutions
  
• Legal Representation
  
• Complaints Concerning Law Enforcement Officials or Judges
  
• Concealed Weapons Permits
  
• Setting Aside a Criminal Conviction to Make it a Non-Public Record
  
• Financial Crimes/Money Laundering Task Force
  

• crimes where the state is a victim;
  
• political corruption and police corruption;
  
• cases of statewide significance where the prosecutor has rejected the case or asked for assistance
  
• cases where the prosecutor has been disqualified
  
• Organized crime, racketeering and money laundering
  
  

Legal Representation

The Attorney General is responsible for representing various state agencies and officials. There is no law which authorizes the Attorney General to provide legal services to private individuals or to appear in court on their behalf unless the issue presented is of significance to the legal interests of the state. Therefore, if you are charged with a crime, the Attorney General cannot intervene in your ongoing case. You must rely upon your own attorney to give advice and guide your case strategy.

If you believe that your own attorney has inadequately represented you or otherwise behaved unethically, contact the Attorney Grievance Commission at (313) 961-6585. The Attorney General has no authority to discipline attorneys.

Complaints Concerning Law Enforcement Officials or Judges

The Attorney General does NOT have supervisory control over police agencies. We can only review complaints which allege actual criminal activity by police officers (examples: taking a bribe, theft, obstruction of justice, etc.).

Complaints about the activities of prosecutors are reviewed using an "abuse of discretion" standard. If the prosecutor is found to have acted within his legal authority and sound discretion, this office will take no action, even if it is agreed that we might have done things differently.

If you are dissatisfied with a judge's ruling in a case, you must appeal to a higher court. If you believe a judge misbehaved in a case, you need to contact the Judicial Tenure Commission at (313) 875-5110.
 

Concealed Weapons Permits

Michigan residents may NOT use permits issued to them by other states to justify carrying concealed weapons in Michigan. Questions concerning concealed weapons permits should be referred to the County Gun Board.
 

Setting Aside a Criminal Conviction to Make it a Non-Public Record

A person can petition the court in which they were convicted to set aside a criminal conviction to make it non-public.  Setting aside an adult conviction is governed by MCL 780.621a.  You do not qualify to have a conviction set aside if:

• You have been convicted of more than one offense;
• The maximum punishment for the conviction was life imprisonment, regardless of your actual sentence;
• You were convicted of 1st, 2nd, or 3rd degree criminal sexual conduct or assault with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct; and
• You were convicted of a traffic offense.

Additionally, you may not have a conviction set aside until at least 5 years following imposition of the sentence for the conviction or 5 years following completion of any term of imprisonment for the conviction, whichever occurs later.

Other restrictions may apply to you based on your particular circumstances.  Forms and instructions for this process are available at the court where you were convicted or at: http://courts.michigan.gov/scao/courtforms/generalcriminal/mc227.pdf.

Financial Crimes-Money Laundering Task Force

The mission of the Financial Crimes/Money Laundering Task Force is to investigate and prosecute sophisticated financial crimes and to provide much needed assistance to local law enforcement agencies pursuing such cases. The Task Force, consisting of specially trained investigators and prosecutors, will serve as an adjunct to the state's multi-jurisdictional narcotics teams, identifying and pursuing illegal proceeds and prosecuting the financial benefactors of such activities.

In addition, asset forfeiture is an underutilized component of law enforcement's response to illegal drug activity. To be truly effective in dismantling drug organizations, law enforcement must better utilize asset forfeiture to strip organizations of their assets. The project is a technical assistance service designed to inform, train, equip, and motivate county prosecuting attorneys' offices to join in partnership with local law enforcement to use asset forfeiture effectively in the war against drugs and other crimes. Components of this service include training, publications, and technical assistance, as well as litigating forfeiture cases.