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Issues:
Victim Services Resources • Sexual or Violent Offender Registry
Soon after becoming Attorney General, Mike created the Office of Victim Services. This has dramatically improved services to Montana crime victims, especially through increased victims’ compensation and restitution collected from offenders.
Mike has long been a vigorous advocate for victims of domestic violence and child abuse. He has increased emphasis within the criminal justice system on family violence training for prosecutors. He also formed Montana’s first Fatality Review Commission. Commission members work with their counterparts in local communities to examine cases of domestic homicide and identify ways to prevent similar cases in the future.
Montana Lands Resources • Montana Sues Wyoming in U.S. Supreme Court
• Editorial: AG has strong Libby argument
As a member of the state Land Board, Mike has been an advocate for public access to 5 million acres of school trust lands. Mike believes in continued responsible management of timber sales on state lands as a means to support Montana schools.
Mike has been an outspoken advocate for the removal of the Milltown Dam on the Clark Fork River near Missoula. He also actively supported EPA Superfund designation for Libby, a northwestern Montana community facing asbestos contamination caused by years of vermiculite mining.
September 8, 2006 – Attorney General Mike McGrath is congratulated following a ceremony recognizing his extensive support of hunting and fishing in Montana. More than 20 Montana organizations offered support for the award. Photo by Jon Ebelt In 2007, Mike filed a lawsuit against the State of Wyoming to protect Montana’s water rights. Wyoming has repeatedly refused to release sufficient water into the Tongue and Powder Rivers, and to resolve these disputes according to the terms of the Yellowstone River Compact.
As Attorney General, Mike has successfully defended challenges to Montana’s stream access law. He vigorously defended challenges to voter-passed initiatives prohibiting cyanide heap leach mining and restricting domestic game farm practices that endanger Montana’s wild game herds and fair chase hunting tradition.
Mike continues to pursue litigation against ARCO for damages caused to Montana's natural resources in Butte, Anaconda and the Clark Fork River basin. And he is pushing for clean-up of the old Mike Horse mine site in the Upper Blackfoot Drainage.
Consumer Protection Resources • Montana End-of-Life Registry
In 2005, the legislature supported Mike’s proposal to move responsibility for Consumer Protection to the Department of Justice. Since then, he has ensured that more legal and program resources have been devoted to protecting Montana consumers. He has created an identity theft passport program to assist victims, provided training in investigating and prosecuting identity theft, and successfully proposed security freeze legislation that allows consumers to protect themselves and their credit.
Under Mike’s leadership, the department created the Montana End-of-Life Registry. The free online service securely stores directives relating to life-sustaining treatment and provides authorized health care providers immediate access to those directives so people’s wishes for their end-of-life care are respected.
Mike also actively promoted legislative efforts to restrict telemarketing practices by adopting a Montana Do-Not-Call List.
In the wake of the so-called “energy crisis” of 2000-2001, Mike successfully sued some of the nation’s energy traders for manipulating the Western energy markets and driving many of Montana’s major employers out of business, costing us hundreds of good-paying jobs. In an effort to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable, he also filed suit against some major drug companies for defrauding our seniors as well as taxpayers, by seeking unauthorized Medicaid reimbursements.
Fighting Crime Resources Making our communities safe has been Mike's number one priority since becoming Attorney General.
Substantial improvements have been made to the training programs for law enforcement, as well as prosecutors. The state forensic lab has added much needed staff and, in 2005, became one of the few nationally accredited state crime labs in the country.
In 2003, Mike initiated Montana’s AMBER Alert system in an effort to speed the recovery of abducted children.
As Attorney General, in 2002 Mike began a major initiative to combat the dramatic rise of methamphetamine abuse. Meth has a devastating impact on our communities. It causes increased crime and often irreparable damage to the individuals who use it and to their families. The package of legislation he proposed in 2005 has been extremely successful in reducing the availability of pseudoephedrine and other precursors, which has substantially reduced the number of clandestine labs in Montana.
Mike has strongly and consistently supported expanded drug treatment courts and the long-term treatment programs meth addicts need. Increased efforts in prevention, education and treatment are beginning to have an effect. The recent report, Methamphetamine in Montana, published in conjunction with the Montana Meth Project, points to a number of encouraging trends.
Mike has worked with the Montana Legislature to enact many criminal justice bills including:
- Increasing penalties for methamphetamine sales
- Making identity theft a crime
- Strengthening DUI laws
- Creating a process for post-conviction DNA testing
- Improving criminal procedures for prosecutors and law enforcement
- Outlawing racial profiling
Tribal Relations Resources Mike has worked hard to improve relations between state government and Montana’s seven tribal governments. The Department of Justice has worked to adopt state/tribal agreements in the areas of water usage, gaming control and law enforcement cooperation.
Mike successfully negotiated an agreement with the Northern Cheyenne Tribe to allow release by the federal government of the Otter Creek Coal Tracts to the state of Montana.Mike's office has protected all Montana children by providing full faith and credit for tribal court orders in family law cases.
Mike has assisted in successful negotiations with several tribal governments for comprehensive water compacts.
Helping Montana's Businesses Resources Mike believes that government should not be an impediment to conducting legitimate business activities. The Department of Justice has major regulatory responsibilities over gaming and driver services. Under Mike's leadership, the department has improved its business practices, reducing delays at the Title & Registration Bureau from 8 weeks to less than one. Gaming license changes have gone from an average of 193 days to less than 50.
The Motor Vehicle Division is implementing a completely revamped computer system that is dramatically improving its efficiency and the services it provides to businesses and the driving public. Driver history and vehicle records can now be searched online, and temporary registration permits are also available online.
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Mike McGrath for Chief Justice
P.O. Box 1661
Helena, MT 59624
© Mike McGrath 2007
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