RICHARD CORDRAY LETTER

January 8, 2011

Dear Gerald and Sue,

This will be my last message to you as Ohio's Attorney General, and I want you to know how much your steadfast support has meant to me as we have worked every day to utilize the resources and responsibilities entrusted to us to stand on the side of the people of this great state.

I have cherished the opportunity to serve as Attorney General. The important work of this office touches every part of state government and, by extension, the lives of the citizens and taxpayers who both support and rely on the Attorney General's office. I am immensely proud of the diverse array of accomplishments the office has been able to achieve over the past two years. Many of those accomplishments are summarized in the 2010 Annual Report of the Attorney General's Office; the report is now available and I encourage you to take a look at it by clicking here: www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/AnnualReport2010. Several highlights of the report also follow this email.

While I know you share my disappointment with the election results, I remain convinced that we all did everything we reasonably could, and my pride in our team will endure throughout time. With your help, we were able to come closer to victory than any statewide Democrat, and we ended up on the short side of a painfully close race by less than five votes per precinct out of over 400 cast.

I look forward to the challenges and opportunities of the new year, and I am eager to continue my efforts to protect the futures of Ohioans with my work at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Washington. Please rest assured that my commitment to improving our state through the political process is unwavering. By sticking together and continuing the work we have started, we will endure these tough political times to enjoy many future victories together.

Thank you again for all of your help and support.

Gratefully yours,




RICHARD A. CORDRAY
Ohio Attorney General


HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2010 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE

Fighting for Ohioans From Wall Street to Main Street

-Winning the 10th largest securities class action settlement in U.S. history against AIG.

-Winning millions of dollars in restitution and other assistance for large groups of Ohio consumers from those both large and small that treated them unfairly.

-Extending consumer protection services to help small businesses and nonprofits by fielding additional complaints that garnered hundreds of thousands of dollars for these entities.

-Working endlessly, tirelessly, and creatively both in the courts and in our communities to fight the scourge of foreclosure and to help keep people in their homes.

-Spearheading what has become a 50-state investigation of fraudulent foreclosure affidavit practices that abused the rights of homeowners and the legal processes followed in our courts.

-Protecting the environment in an investigation and prosecution that secured the largest underground tank settlement in Ohio.

-Pursuing an unprecedented joint federal-state agency crackdown to enforce existing laws against worker misclassification, which robs governments of needed revenues, undercuts law-abiding businesses, and cheats employees out of the rightful fruits of their labor, such as the protections afforded by state laws on workers compensation and unemployment compensation.

-Responding to the state’s economic troubles by working to protect Ohio jobs in areas as diverse as airlines and hospitals, and taking steps to create future employment through an innovative new approach to research agreements in Ohio’s colleges and universities.

-Setting our accustomed national standard for investigating and prosecuting health care fraud.

-Uncovering a decade-old charitable scam that bilked Ohioans out of millions of dollars intended for veterans causes while operating nationally to funnel money illegally to political campaigns.


In Support of Law Enforcement, Prosecutors, and Victims

-Creating new ways to catch criminals by providing cutting-edge identification, investigative, and laboratory assistance at no cost to local agencies.

-Introducing robotics and improvements at the BCI crime labs to cut turnaround times for testing evidence significantly—an average of 47 days for DNA testing, down from 71 days last year.

-Expanding the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway (OHLEG) with even more accessible real-time criminal database information for local officers positioned on a stronger computer platform poised to cope with the higher volumes of work occurring now and expected in the future.

-Addressing the scourge of human trafficking in award-winning efforts that included new state legislation and greatly expanded law enforcement training and investigative techniques.

-Cracking down on meth production in a grant-funded pilot effort and eradicating a bumper crop of marijuana plants by teaming BCI resources with state and local law enforcement agencies.

-Taking on organized crime by overseeing 15 cross-jurisdictional task forces resulting in 259 arrests and 58 convictions for one task force alone.

-Bringing education and funding to victim advocates, making cyberspace safer for children, and empowering seniors through the creation of Triad units to protect seniors across the state.

-Creating a new database for Missing Adult cases to complement the Amber and Silver Alerts.

-Assisting local prosecutors directly with major cases involving homicides, child sexual abuse, and public corruption, and then ensuring that these and other convictions were upheld on appeal and in federal habeas proceedings.

-Overseeing peace officer training and certification by OPOTA, which expanded on-line and regional trainings for the convenience of local officers and ultimately was honored by receiving Flagship Agency Status from its national accreditation agency in 2010.


Advocating for Ohio with Professionalism and Integrity

-Successfully representing Ohio in the U.S. Supreme Court and Ohio Supreme Court while winning awards along the way.

-Supporting pivotal cases spanning subjects such as: upholding minimum wage requirements, protecting workers from secondhand smoke, shielding kids from porn, demanding accuracy in election advertising, defending anti-gambling laws, supporting schools, ensuring fair settlements, and protecting Lake Erie’s native fish population as well as public access to its shoreline.

-Encouraging careers in law by AAG volunteer participation in mock trial competitions.

-Supporting the community by our aggressive outreach to veterans and other community groups and our support of various charitable causes, such as the Law Enforcement Torch Run for the Ohio Special Olympics.


The full report is available online at: www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/AnnualReport2010.