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Attorney General Dana Nessel

A former criminal prosecutor and civil rights attorney, Dana Nessel was sworn in as Michigan’s 54th Attorney General on January 1, 2019.  Her core initiatives have been fashioned in the image of her promise to Michigan’s residents — to give the Department of Attorney General back to the people that it serves.  Attorney General Nessel’s consumer protection divisions have taken a lead role in fighting against companies that try to take advantage of Michigan consumers, whether it be through unfair utility rate increases or unscrupulous business practices.  She launched the Department’s Auto Insurance Fraud Unit to investigate and prosecute individuals and businesses that exploit Michigan residents and the system designed to protect the safety of Michigan’s drivers.  And, she established the office’s first Payroll Fraud Enforcement Unit to crackdown on individuals and businesses who try to cheat Michigan’s workers out of their pay and retirement benefits.   

Since taking office, Attorney General Nessel has been a champion of the state’s most important resource – its Great Lakes.  Her environmental protection division is actively fighting to ensure clean air, water and energy for Michigan’s residents so that our most valuable assets are preserved for generations to come.  She has also joined the battle to combat the largest public health crisis in the nation – prescription drug addiction — and to stem the tide of Michigan’s biggest environmental crisis in decades – PFAS contamination.

As the State’s Chief Law Enforcement Officer, Attorney General Nessel launched Michigan’s Elder Abuse Task Force, in partnership with the Michigan Supreme Court, to stop the rise of crimes against one of the state’s most vulnerable populations.  She has continued the Department’s criminal investigations into the Flint Water Crisis and sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.  And, she has created a Conviction Integrity Unit to investigate claims of innocence so that even when we prosecute the state’s most heinous crimes, we can ensure the public’s trust in our criminal justice system.

A graduate of the University of Michigan and Wayne State University Law School, Attorney General Nessel lives in southeast Michigan with her wife, Alanna Maguire, and her twin sons, Alex and Zach.