Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon
JAY NIXON (Democrat) is serving his fourth term as Attorney General of Missouri. Nixon was first elected Attorney General on Nov. 3, 1992, on a platform of fighting crime, cleaning up government corruption, and protecting consumers and the environment. Nixon is Missouri’s 40th Attorney General.
As Attorney General, Jay Nixon has worked to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of state government. In 2007, his office saved or generated for Missouri taxpayers $20.84 for every dollar appropriated to the Attorney General’s Office.
Nixon’s tenure as Attorney General also has been marked by initiative and innovation to defend and protect Missouri consumers, taxpayers and the environment. One of the most popular and successful programs he instituted is the state’s No Call program, which has been held up as a model for other states starting their own programs. More than 2.6 million residential phone numbers – representing an estimated 4 million Missourians – are a part of the Missouri No Call list. Tough enforcement of the law by Nixon’s office has not only greatly reduced unwanted telemarketing calls, it has led to a significant decrease in complaints from Missourians about telemarketing fraud.
Upon taking office, he created the Agriculture and Environment Division to enforce Missouri’s environmental laws and protect agricultural productivity. Successful litigation by the division has resulted in the cleanup of polluted sites and millions of dollars awarded to the state.
Nixon also formed the state’s first Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, enabling Missouri to recover tens of millions of dollars that the state would not receive otherwise in Medicaid fraud cases. He also initiated the vigorous defense against inmate lawsuits, ending the practice of paying outside attorneys and saving the state millions of dollars in the process.
Nixon himself argued before the United States Supreme Court in Nixon v. Shrink, a landmark victory that reinstated Missouri’s campaign contribution limits and cleared the way nationally for campaign finance reform. Nixon’s work in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield and the Health Midwest cases resulted in the formation of the state’s two largest health-care foundations, which are using more than $1.8 billion to help provide health-care services to underserved populations of the state.
Litigation by Nixon against tobacco companies for illegally marketing cigarettes to young people resulted in the largest settlement in the history of the state; as of 2007, the litigation had brought in more than $1.2 billion to state coffers.
Nixon has been a national leader in fighting crime on the Internet, obtaining convictions and restitution from those who have defrauded Missourians through Internet scams. His work also established through court rulings that Missouri laws can be enforced on the Internet.
As Attorney General, Nixon obtained more than $22.2 million for Missourians in 2007 from companies and individuals accused of fraudulent activities, including a record $9.3 million returned to consumers by the Consumer Protection Division through out-of-court mediation. The division receives almost 100,000 complaints annually and has handled more than 1 million consumer complaints since Nixon took office. Nixon’s actions to protect the elderly have put telemarketers in prison and fraudulent sweepstakes companies out of business.
Prior to becoming Attorney General, Nixon served as a state senator for six years where he was recognized by the Conservation Federation of Missouri for his environmental work.
Attorney General Nixon is a native of De Soto, Missouri. He earned his political science and law degrees from the University of Missouri–Columbia in 1978 and 1981, respectively. He was in private practice when elected to the Senate in 1986. He is married to Georganne Wheeler Nixon; they have two children, Jeremiah and Will.