The Michigan Department of Attorney General utilizes the services of Special Assistant Attorneys General from time to time when the unique circumstances of a particular case create the need for specialized services not currently available within the department.
The Michigan Attorney General has determined that a full and complete investigation of what happened within the Catholic Church is required. This investigation is and will continue to be independent, thorough, transparent, and prompt. My department and this investigation will find out who knew what, and when.
The Conviction Integrity Unit (the “CIU”) investigates claims of innocence to determine whether there is clear and convincing new evidence that the convicted defendant was not the person who committed the offense.
In Michigan, a victim is an individual who suffers direct or threatened physical, financial, or emotional harm as a result of the commission of a crime.
The Task Force launched in 2019 and consists of more than 55 different organizations in the public, private and nonprofit sectors - all working together to combat elder abuse.
The laws regarding expungement of criminal offenses in Michigan changed in major ways in April of 2021. This page is designed to help applicants navigate their way through the new laws, help them determine if they are eligible to have convictions expunged, to answer frequently asked questions about the new laws, and to provide links for resources and assistance.
To investigate and prosecute hate crimes by following up on every credible tip and offer departmental resources to assist local and federal law enforcement partners in this effort.
The Michigan Attorney General is leading the fight against this horrific crime by prosecuting the state's first-ever criminal cases under state law banning human trafficking in Michigan. Victims of human trafficking are in bondage through force, fraud or coercion, for the purpose of sex or labor exploitation.
Knowing how to guard your personal information is your first line of defense against identity theft.
Michigan Attorney General's robocall initiative is leading several efforts to protect Michigan residents from the billion plus robocalls made to them every year.
Michigan's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), MCL 15.231 et seq, provides that requesters can receive copies or make inspections of most public records of public bodies upon written request.
The Open Meetings Act (OMA) took effect January 1, 1977. In enacting the OMA, the Legislature promoted a new era in governmental accountability and fostered openness in government to enhance responsible decision making.1 Nothing in the OMA prohibits a public body from adopting an ordinance, resolution, rule, or charter provision that requires a greater degree of openness relative to public body meetings than the standards provided for in the OMA. 2
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April 25, 2025
LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel today, as part of a coalition of 19 attorneys general, filed a lawsuit (PDF) challenging the U.S. Department of Education’s threat to withhold federal funding from state and local agencies that refuse to abandon lawful programs and policies that promote equal access to education in K-12 classrooms across the nation.
On April 3, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education informed state and local education agencies that they must accept the Trump Administration’s new and legally incoherent interpretation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with respect to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts — or else risk immediate and catastrophic loss of federal education funds. Michigan, like many other states, declined to sign the certification form as drafted, explaining that there is no lawful or practical way to do so given the Department’s vague, contradictory, and unsupported interpretation of Title VI. In filing today’s lawsuit, Attorney General Nessel and the coalition seek to bar the Department from withholding any funding based on these unlawful conditions.
“That the federal government would strangle our schools and shutter classrooms to achieve their political attacks on DEI programming is appalling,” said Nessel. “Our educational agencies cannot be expected to comply with legally incoherent demands that undercut the 1964 Civil Rights Act, particularly when our schools are not in violation of Title VI and have annually certified compliance with this law. Federal educational funds are a significant portion of the funding needed to teach the children of our state, and right now, in the face of these unlawful demands, we're fighting the Trump administration just to keep special education in our public schools.”
For fiscal year 2024, Michigan was allocated $1,267,843,245 in congressionally mandated financial support through the U.S. Department of Education for a wide variety of needs and services related to children and education. This funding includes financial support to ensure that students from low-income families have the same access to high-quality education as their peers, provide special education services, recruit and train highly skilled and dedicated teachers, fund programming for non-native speakers to learn English, and provide support to vulnerable children who are in foster care and without housing. As a condition of receiving these funds, state and local education agencies provide written assurances that they will comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin, and Michigan has consistently and regularly certified its compliance with Title VI and its implementing regulations.
However, on April 3, the U.S. Department of Education issued a letter that conditioned continued federal financial assistance on state and local education agencies certifying that they are not operating programs inconsistent with the Trump Administration’s view that efforts supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion are unlawful. The letter forced state and local agencies to choose between two untenable options: (1) refuse to certify compliance based on the Department’s undefined viewpoint on what constitutes unlawful diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, curriculum, instruction, and policies, and place federal funding in peril or (2) certify compliance, attempt to identify and eliminate lawful diversity, equity, and inclusion to the detriment of students, and still face liability for failing to fully comply with the Department’s vague and ill-defined order. Faced with this choice, the Michigan Department of Education informed the U.S. Department of Education that it continues to stand by its prior certifications of compliance with Title VI, but would not assent to the unlawfully issued certification.
In the lawsuit, Attorney General Nessel and the multistate coalition assert that the U.S. Department of Education’s attempt to terminate federal education funding based on its misinterpretation of Title VI violates the Spending Clause, the Appropriations Clause, the separation of powers, and the Administrative Procedures Act.
Attorney General Nessel joins the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin in filing the lawsuit.
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