Oregon Department of Justice

Accomplishments include dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, creating an environmental crimes unit, improving consumer protection and reaching a positive settlement with OppenheimerFunds

Attorney General John Kroger today announced the release of the Attorney General's 2009 Annual Report.

"On January 5, 2009, I was sworn into office as Oregon's seventeenth Attorney General. That day, I issued a new mission statement for the Oregon Department of Justice," Attorney General Kroger said.

The statement reads:

The mission of the Oregon Department of Justice is to provide outstanding legal and child support services to Oregonians and their government. We are dedicated to:

• Fighting crime and protecting crime victims;
• Improving the well-being of Oregon's children;
• Protecting the environment;
• Fighting for Oregon consumers, workers, investors and taxpayers;
• Promoting a positive business climate;
• Providing great legal services to Oregon's state government;
• Defending the rights of all Oregonians.

"Every day, the women and men of DOJ work with dedication, tenacity and skill to accomplish this mission. In 2009 we achieved great success," Kroger added.

Examples include:

• The Department's prosecutors and criminal investigators helped dismantle two major drug trafficking organizations based in Washington and Clackamas Counties in the largest state racketeering case ever prosecuted in Oregon.

• We created a new environmental crimes unit and filed lawsuits to hold polluters accountable, protect endangered species and speed the clean-up of the toxic Hanford nuclear facility.

• We introduced and helped pass landmark legislation to protect victims of crime in Oregon's courts.

• We joined Treasurer Ben Westlund to sue OppenheimerFunds, Inc., for mismanagement of the state's College Savings Plan. In November, we reached a settlement that will divide $20 million among roughly 45,000 Oregonians.

• We took swift legal action against pharmaceutical companies like Bayer, Pfizer and Aventis, recovering more than $16.8 million for Oregon consumers and taxpayers.

• The Department's Division of Child Support helped more than 225,000 parents pay for such basic needs for their kids as shelter, clothing and food.

• We continued to provide outstanding legal services to state agencies, boards and commissions helping, for example, to draft $1 billion in contracts for the Department of Transportation and to negotiate a $600 million investment for the Public Employees Retirement Fund

• Through a combination of increased operational efficiency, cuts to overhead and savings in personnel costs, the Department voluntarily cut its budget by $2.5 million, returning the money to the General Fund during the 2010 Legislative Special Session to help pay for essential services like education and public safety.

Attorney General John Kroger leads the Oregon Department of Justice. The Department's mission is to fight crime and fraud, protect the environment, improve child welfare,promote a positive business climate and defend the rights of all Oregonians.