Attorney General of Michigan

Cox was elected Attorney General in 2002 and sworn into office on January 1, 2003. Within days of taking office, Cox created the Child Support Division, a first-of-its-kind program to collect child support. By combining public awareness with targeted prosecutions, the division collected more than $35.3 million on behalf of more than 3,500 Michigan children in its first four years. In 2004, Cox received the Golden Hearts Award from the Association for Children for Enforcement of Support, the nation's largest child support organization, and reorganized the Child and Public Protection Unit, making Michigan one of the most aggressive states in the nation to tackle the growing problem of Internet predators. Since taking office, Cox's unit continues to arrest more Internet predators than any state other than

Texas.
From 2003-2006, Cox's Consumer Protection Division returned a record $43.4 million to the State of Michigan. During the same period, he prevented $1.78 billion in utility rate increases.
In 2003, Cox formed the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) to uncover public corruption and solve cold case homicides.

Cox has collected more money (more than $70 million) than was collected by the Health Care Fraud Division in their first 24 years of existence (less than $20 million). He drafted the Medicaid Whistleblower Protection Act, legislation against Medicaid fraud, which provides financial incentives to those who assist in the investigation or prosecution of a violator of the Medicaid False Claims Act. Cox spearheaded the drafting and passage of legislation requiring mandatory criminal background checks of employees in residential care facilities, including nursing homes, to safeguard Michigan seniors.

Cox has also fought to protect the Great Lakes from aquatic nuisance species and biological pollutants by challenging the United States Environmental Protection Agency to regulate ballast water discharges.

Cox has also aggressively prosecuted deadbeat parents, including a public relations campaign which called attention to the issue of unpaid child support through billboards and other forms of media