Michael J. Hunter

Michael J. Hunter (born July 2, 1956)[1] is an American politician from the state of Oklahoma. Hunter served as the Secretary of State of Oklahoma from 1999 to 2002, having been appointed by Governor of Oklahoma Frank Keating.[2] On November 1, 2016, he was appointed to the same post by Governor Mary Fallin. He also served as Special Counsel to the Governor. On February 20, 2017, Hunter was appointed Attorney General of Oklahoma, replacing Scott Pruitt who was confirmed as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency three days earlier on February 17.[3] In 2018, Hunter was elected Attorney General, beating Mark Myles.[4] May 28, 2018 was the first day of arguments in the case that his office brought against Johnson & Johnson regarding the opioid epidemic.

Mike Hunter
18th Attorney General of Oklahoma
Incumbent
Assumed office February 20, 2017
Governor	Mary Fallin Kevin Stitt
Preceded by	Scott Pruitt
29th and 34th Secretary of State of Oklahoma
In office November 1, 2016 – February 20, 2017
Governor	Mary Fallin
Preceded by	Chris Benge
Succeeded by	Tod Wall (Acting)
In office March 16, 1999 – October 16, 2002
Governor	Frank Keating
Preceded by	Tom Cole
Succeeded by	Kay Dudley
Secretary of the Oklahoma Commissioners of the Land Office
In office August 3, 2009 – September 1, 2010
Governor	Brad Henry
Preceded by	Clifton Scott
Succeeded by	Doug Allen (acting)
Member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from the 85th district
In office January 8, 1985 – January 8, 1991
Preceded by	Porter Davis
Succeeded by	Mary Fallin
Personal details
Born	July 2, 1956 Garfield County, Oklahoma, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Cheryl Plaxico
Children	2
Education	Oklahoma State University–Stillwater (BA) University of Oklahoma (JD)

Early life and education

Hunter was born on July 2, 1956 to Chester and Phyllis Hunter.[1] He grew up on a farm in Garfield County, Oklahoma, and is a fourth generation Oklahoman. Hunter received his undergraduate degree from Oklahoma State University in 1978. He later graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1982. While at OU Law, Hunter served as the President of the Student Bar Association. Upon graduating, Hunter entered private practice. His area of specialization was in energy, real property, public employment law and utility regulation.

Oklahoma politics

In 1984, Hunter was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives. While in the House, he served as Chairman of the Republican Caucus and Vice Chairman of the House Criminal Justice Committee. In 1988, he was one of the eight lawmakers recognized by the Daily Oklahoman as Oklahoma's Best Legislators. That same year he was the recipient of the Oklahoma District Attorneys' Legislative Appreciation Award for his work in criminal justice. Hunter remained in the House until 1991.

After leaving the Oklahoma Legislature, Hunter returned to private practice until 1993. From 1993 to 1994, Hunter served as the General Counsel of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, the state's regulatory authority for public utilities, oil and gas, transportation and pipelines companies.

In 1994, Hunter was the Republican nominee for Attorney General of Oklahoma. Hunter would lose the election to Democratic Muskogee County District Attorney Drew Edmondson.

Federal politics

Following the election of J. C. Watts as the Congressman for Oklahoma's 4th congressional district, Hunter was appointed as Watts' chief of staff in 1995, serving until 1999.[5] As Watts' chief of staff, Hunter managed his offices in Washington, D.C., Norman, Oklahoma and Lawton, Oklahoma. He also served as legal counsel to Congressman Watts in his work on the National Security and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committees.

Keating administration

In 1998, incumbent Republican Governor of Oklahoma Frank Keating was reelected to second four-year term. Keating's first Secretary of State Tom Cole stepped down to return to the private sector. On March 16, 1999, Keating appointed Hunter to serve as the 29th Oklahoma Secretary of State. In addition to his duties as Secretary of State, Hunter served as Governor Keating's chief liaison to the Oklahoma Legislature and to the state's Congressional delegation in Washington, D. C.

Private sector

Hunter resigned as Secretary of State in October 2002 to become the executive vice president and chief operating officer of the American Council of Life Insurers under president and CEO Frank Keating. He managed the organization's $47 million budget and 135 member staff. The ACLI is the advocacy, legal and research arm of the life insurance industry.

In 2011, after serving as Secretary of the Commissioners of the Oklahoma Land Office, Hunter was named chief operating officer of the American Bankers Association, serving again under Keating as president and CEO. Hunter oversees the ABA's government relations, public policy, legal, and communications activities.[6]

Return to Oklahoma 2009-10 and 2015

In August 2009, Democratic Governor of Oklahoma Brad Henry appointed Hunter the 47th Secretary of the Commissioners of the Land Office. The Commissioners of the Land Office is charged with managing the lands the U.S. Congress granted to Oklahoma at statehood to help benefit public education. The office also administers the trust funds and proceeds derived from selling and renting the public lands. Hunter resigned from the Land Office effective September 1, 2010. Douglas Allen, the Assistant Secretary of the Commissioners of the Land Office under Hunter, was appointed interim Secretary, and later Secretary, by the Commissioners.

In June 2015, Hunter was appointed First Assistant Attorney General of the State of Oklahoma by Attorney General Scott Pruitt.

Oklahoma Attorney General

On February 17, 2017, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt resigned to become Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Donald Trump. To fill the vacancy caused by Pruitt's resignation, Governor Mary Fallin appointed Hunter as Attorney General to fill the remainder of Pruitt's unexpired term on February 20, 2017.[7]

Actions in response to opioid epidemic

Early in his term as Attorney General, Hunter was named the chair of the Oklahoma Commission on Opioid Abuse, following the passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution 12.[8] Hunter, along with legislative leaders and experts worked on a plan to intended to address the increases in addiction and overdoses from opioids. The full plan was released in January 2018, and included 31 policy recommendations, eight of which later became law.[9][10]

Attorney General Hunter filed a series of lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and associated companies. In a case filed in April 2017, the state of Oklahoma under Attorney General Hunter accused Purdue Pharma, Allergan, Cephalon and Janssen Pharmaceuticals of deceptive marketing practices, contributing to over-prescribing of opioids in the state. In March 2019, a settlement was announced, with Purdue Pharma agreeing to pay $270 million, with the Oklahoma State University Health Sciences initially negotiated to receive the largest share of the funds ($177 million) to increase treatment of addiction medicine.[11][12] After the announcement, members of the Oklahoma state legislature raised concerns about the nature of the settlement, and the potential for it to circumvent the traditional legislative appropriations process.[13] Additional opioid makers agreed to pay settlements in May 2019.[13]

In 2018, Hunter filed suit against multinational consumer products manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, seeking $17.2 billion in damages.[14] Under Hunter's direction, the state pursued a litigation strategy applying a public nuisance framework to the negative impacts of opioid abuse on the state of Oklahoma.[15] The case began trial in the summer of 2019, and gained national attention, as the potential ruling was thought to be an indicator of the prospects for other states and localities aiming to also address the opioid epidemic.[16][17]

On August 26, 2019, Judge Thad Balkman of the Cleveland County District Court announced a $572 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson, finding the company liable for opioid-related harms, but not at the level proposed by the state's legal team. Judge Balkman later reduced the verdict by $107 million due to erroneous calculations.[18][19] Both the state of Oklahoma and Johnson and Johnson have appealed the verdict, as of April 2020.[20]

In May 2020, Hunter filed lawsuits against three opioid manufacturers (AmerisourceBergen Corp., Cardinal Health, and McKesson) in Bryan County District Court. The lawsuits allege that the companies were irresponsible and helped fuel the opioid crisis in Oklahoma. Bryan County has seen a large number of opioid overdoses and deaths. According to Health Crisis Alert, "According to the suits, in 2017, the three companies provided enough opioids to Bryan County that every adult resident there could have had 144 hydrocodone tablets."[21]

Opinions

An attorney general opinion is a written interpretation of existing State or federal law issued by the Attorney General. While the opinions are not binding upon the courts, State officials are obligated to fellow them under they are set aside by a court. All opinions are permanent until revoked by a subsequent opinion or until overruled by a court.

Relative No.	Year No.	Date signed	Subject	Description	Citation	Ref.
1	2017-1	April 17, 2017	Local Government	Municipal governing bodies may express official support for or opposition to ballot measures as long as such vote does not expend public funds	OK AG Op. No. 2017-1 (April 17, 2017)
2	2017-2	May 4, 2017	Lottery	State Lottery Commission is not authorized to accept sweepstakes entries via web-based application	OK AG Op. No. 2017-2 (May 4, 2017)
3	2017-3	May 23, 2017	Corrections	State law requiring county jails to bear the cost of housing inmate sentenced to Department of Corrections pending transportation is unconstitutional	OK AG Op. No. 2017-3 (May 23, 2017)
4	2017-4	June 2, 2017	Public Finance	Funds of the Housing Finance Agency are not public funds for the purposes of constitutional limitations	OK AG Op. No. 2017-4 (June 2, 2017)
5	2017-5	June 13, 2017	Healthcare	If a non-state governmental entity acquires management of a long-term care facility then it is deemed the owner of the facility	OK AG Op. No. 2017-5 (June 13, 2017)
6	2017-6	June 26, 2017	Public Finance	The temporarily transfer of funds from the Constitutional Reserve Fund in order to supplement cash flow needs of State government is constitutional	OK AG Op. No. 2017-6 (June 26, 2017)
7	2017-7	August 7, 2017	Education	State Board of Education may authorize charter school after local school district has denied application	OK AG Op. No. 2017-7 (August 7, 2017)
8	2017-8	August 28, 2017	Government Property	Department of Veterans Affairs must seek approval from Long Range Capital Planning Commission in order to sell state-owed real property	OK AG Op. No. 2017-8 (August 28, 2017)
9	2017-9	September 6, 2017	Professional Regulation	Subcontractor engaged in roofing contractor work must be registered with State to lawfully engage in such work	OK AG Op. No. 2017-9 (September 6, 2017)
10	2017-10	September 7, 2017	Consumer Credit	Gift certificates redeemable for food are exempt from requirement that gift cards may not expire less than 60 months after issuance	OK AG Op. No. 2017-10 (September 7, 2017)
11	2017-11	September 6, 2017	Professional Regulation	State Medical Board may not charge physician assistants an additional fee to record the tracking of continuing medical education	OK AG Op. No. 2017-11 (September 6, 2017)
12	2017-12	September 7, 2017	Professional Regulation	Discipline records of professional licensing agencies are not subject to expungement process	OK AG Op. No. 2017-12 (September 7, 2017)
13	2017-13	December 13, 2017	Healthcare	Hospitals may refuse to grant admitting privileges to a licensed physician based on training of physician, but lack of board certification cannot be sole factor in such decision	OK AG Op. No. 2017-13 (December 13, 2017)
14	2017-14	December 12, 2017	Taxation	Constitutional prohibition on revenue raising bills being passed in final five days of legislative session applies to both regular sessions and special sessions	OK AG Op. No. 2017-14 (December 12, 2017)
15	2017-15	December 13, 2017	Public Finance	Payment by Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training of meal costs for police cadets prior to collecting funds from cadet's employing agency not unconstitutional	OK AG Op. No. 2017-15 (December 13, 2017)
16	2017-16	December 20, 2017	Local Government	Rural water districts are exempt from paying costs associated with relocating existing water lines in Turnpike Authority rights-of-way	OK AG Op. No. 2017-16 (December 20, 2017)
17	2017-17	December 20, 2017	Taxation	Real property owner may redeem land sold by county treasurer at tax sales at any time prior to issuance of tax deed buy paying the property taxes for the first year of delinquency	OK AG Op. No. 2017-17 (December 20, 2017)
18	2017-18	December 27, 2017	Government Transparency	Oklahoma Sheriff's Association, as administrator of state motorist liability plan, is a private entity supported by public funds and is therefore subject to Open Records Act and Open Meeting Act	OK AG Op. No. 2017-18 (December 27, 2017)
19	2017-19	December 27, 2017	Constitutional Law	Legislature is not required to attempt to override the Governor's veto of legislation	OK AG Op. No. 2017-19 (December 27, 2017)
20	2017-20	December 27, 2017	Motor Vehicles	Amateur radios are prohibited by state's ban on texting while driving if radio is capable of transmitting or receiving text-based messages	OK AG Op. No. 2017-20 (December 27, 2017)
21	2018-1	March 15, 2018	Local Government	Use of county-level property taxes to support county-based cooperative extension program is not violation on constitutional prohibition on use of local taxes for state-level programs	OK AG Op. No. 2018-1 (March 15, 2018)
22	2018-2	March 30, 2018	Public Utilities	Sewer utility provider must provide notice to water utility provider before discontinuing sewer service	OK AG Op. No. 2018-2 (March 30, 2018)
23	2018-3	March 30, 2018	Public Finance	Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training may expend public funds to train police officer employed by private schools and universities	OK AG Op. No. 2018-3 (March 30, 2018)
24	2018-4	June 26, 2018	Education	Members of local school boards who fail to meet mandated training requirements may not be reelected or reappointed to position	OK AG Op. No. 2018-4 (June 26, 2018)
25	2018-5	June 26, 2018	Public Utilities	The permissibility of third-party distributed electricity depends on if the source thereof is in unincorporated or incorporated areas of the State	OK AG Op. No. 2018-5 (June 26, 2018)
26	2018-6	June 29, 2018	Alcohol	Alcohol breweries may not receive money or other valuable things from a beer distributor in exchange for entering into a distribution agreement with that distributor	OK AG Op. No. 2018-6 (June 29, 2018)
27	2018-7	September 6, 2018	Local Government	Municipalities may not use public resources to assist privately owned cemeteries which are open to the public	OK AG Op. No. 2018-7 (September 6, 2018)
28	2018-8	September 11, 2018	Education	Licensed physical therapists may develop Individualized Education Programs for students with disabilities	OK AG Op. No. 2018-8 (September 11, 2018)
29	2018-9	September 18, 2018	Professional Licensure	Construction Industries Board has authority to license building inspectors	OK AG Op. No. 2018-9 (September 18, 2018)
30	2018-10	September 21, 2018	Government Ethics	Insurance Commissioner may not maintain a financial interest in an insurance business while in office	OK AG Op. No. 2018-10 (September 21, 2018)
31	2018-11	September 25, 2018	Local Government	Municipality may appoint same person to serve concurrently as municipal judge and municipal court clerk without violating prohibition on dual office-holding	OK AG Op. No. 2018-11 (September 25, 2018)
32	2018-12	October 10, 2018	Professional Regulation	A mental health professional who is not a licensed psychologist may not conduct a psychological evaluation of a patient	OK AG Op. No. 2018-12 (October 10, 2018)
33	2018-13	October 25, 2018	Professional Regulation	State licensing agencies may waive licensing fees for low-income individuals	OK AG Op. No. 2018-13 (October 25, 2018)
34	2018-14	October 31, 2018	Public Finance	State Horse Racing Commission is subject to rule requiring state licensing agencies to forward 10 percent of all fees collected to State General Fund	OK AG Op. No. 2018-14 (October 31, 2018)
35	2019-1	January 7, 2019	Public Pensions	The surviving spouse or child of a deceased alternative payee is not entitled to continued payments from Police Pension Fund	OK AG Op. No. 2019-1 (January 7, 2019)
36	2019-2	January 29, 2019	Constitutional Law	Governor may condition the granting of parole upon reasonable conditions	OK AG Op. No. 2019-2 (January 29, 2019)
37	2019-3	January 29, 2019	Professional Regulation	A person need not obtain a bail bondsman license if they provide bail money without receiving compensation for the service	OK AG Op. No. 2019-3 (January 29, 2019)
38	2019-4	February 14, 2019	Public Finance	Capital gains on assets held by General Land Office may not be expended as income but instead become permanent additions to its portfolio	OK AG Op. No. 2019-4 (February 14, 2019)
39	2019-5	May 23, 2019	Corrections	Department of Corrections must spend community sentencing fees to support local community correction systems	OK AG Op. No. 2019-5 (May 23, 2019)
40	2019-6	September 4, 2019	Professional Regulation	Department of Health may revoke previously lawfully granted medical marijuana dispensary licenses which do not comply with amended laws	OK AG Op. No. 2019-6 (September 4, 2019)
41	2019-7	September 26, 2019	Local Government	Local government must adopt an economic development project plan prior to implementing an economic development incentive district	OK AG Op. No. 2019-7 (September 26, 2019)
42	2019-8	September 26, 2019	Lottery	A prize-linked savings account is a form of lottery and is illegal	OK AG Op. No. 2019-8 (September 26, 2019)
43	2020-1	February 24, 2020	Professional Regulation	Department of Health is not required to retroactively apply residency requirements for businesses granted medical marijuana business licenses before the passage of the 2019 Oklahoma Medical Marijuana and Patient Protection Act	OK AG Op. No. 2020-1 (February 24, 2020)
44	2020-2	February 28, 2020	Public Bodies	The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association is not considered a state agency or public body. As a result, the association is not subject to the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act and Oklahoma Public Meeting Act.	OK AG Op. No. 2020-2 (February 28, 2020)
45	2020-3	March 9, 2020	Tribal-State Relations	Fees generated by tribal gaming operations must continue to be deposited by the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services, as specified by the Model Tribal Gaming Compact. Such action does not concede or express any position with respect to pending litigation on the status of tribal-state legal disputes.	OK AG Op. No. 2020-3 (March 9, 2020)
46	2020-4	March 13, 2020	Government Transparency	Oklahoma Open Meeting Act applies in cases where a majority of members of a public body meet. Gatherings of a minority of the body may or may not be subject to the act, depending on the particular facts and intent concerning the nature of the meeting.	OK AG Op. No. 2020-4 (March 13, 2020)
47	2020-5	March 13, 2020	Pardons and Inmate Sentencing	The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board may grant parole to aging prisoners, including if they have not yet served future consecutive sentences.	OK AG Op. No. 2020-5 (March 13, 2020)
48	2020-6	March 13, 2020	Local Government	Salary increases for county elected and other officials may be voted on take effect during their term of office. Salary increases that were pending review of their legality may go into effect.	OK AG Op. No. 2020-6 (March 13, 2020)
49	2020-7	March 24, 2020	Healthcare	Telemedicine can be practiced by Oklahoma healthcare professionals, and is not found to have substantial regulatory restrictions preventing its use as a response to the 2019-2020 coronavirus pandemic.	OK AG Op. No. 2020-7
50	2020-8	May 5, 2020	Tribal-State Relations	Authority of the Governor is examined for the purposes of negotiating and entering in gaming compacts with Indian Tribes. The Governor does not have the power to unilaterally enter into compacts that do not comply with current state laws.	OK AG Op. No. 2020-8
51	2020-9	May 14, 2020	Local Government	Municipalities may use revenues in excess of their expenses for the purposes of supporting local public school systems. The authorizing local ordinances will control the specific usage of funds.	OK AG Op. No. 2020-9
52	2020-10	June 26, 2020	District Attorneys	Salary increases for current district attorneys are permissible, following amended salary rates passed by the Oklahoma legislature and other prior statutes.	OK AG Op. No. 2020-10
53	2020-11	July 16, 2020	Corrections	Determining post-imprisonment supervision conditions are a judicial function, based on the separation of powers in the Oklahoma Constitution. Offenders must complete terms of confinement and post-imprisonment supervision before certain procedures related to consecutive sentences and earned credit become applicable.	OK AG Op. No 2020-11
54	2020-12	October 20, 2020	Land and Water Rights	County boundaries demarcated by the “center line” of watercourses are subject to the common law approach and meaning when bodies of water change.	OK AG Op. No. 2020-12

Personal life

Hunter is married to Cheryl Plaxico Hunter. Cheryl is a practicing lawyer who served as a member of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education from 2000 to 2009, appointed by Governor Frank Keating. They have two sons, Barrett and Brock.[5]

Election history

August 23, 1994, Attorney General of Oklahoma Republican primary election results

Candidates		Party	Votes	%
	Mike Hunter	Republican Party	104,962	58.15%
	Mark Gibson	Republican Party	75,547	41.85%
Total			180,509	100%
Source: 1994 Primary Results

November 8, 1994, Attorney General of Oklahoma election results

Candidates		Party	Votes	%
	Drew Edmondson	Democratic Party	507,039	52.16%
	Mike Hunter	Republican Party	465,031	47.84%
Total			972,800	100%
Source: 1994 General Results

June 26, 2018, Attorney General of Oklahoma Republican primary election results

Candidates		Party	Votes	%
	Angela Bonilla	Republican Party	73,514	17.08%
	Mike Hunter	Republican Party	191,324	44.46%
	Gentner Drummond	Republican Party	165,479	38.46%
Total			430,317	100%
Source: 2018 Primary Results

August 28, 2018, Attorney General of Oklahoma Republican runoff election results

Candidates		Party	Votes	%
	Mike Hunter	Republican Party	148,418	50.05
	Gentner Drummond	Republican Party	148,148	49.95
Total			296,567	100.00
Source: 2018 Primary Results

November 8, 2018, Attorney General of Oklahoma general election results

Candidates		Party	Votes	%
	Mike Hunter	Republican Party	750,769	64.03%
	Mark Myles	Democratic Party	421,699	35.97%
Total			1,172,468	100%
Source: 2018 General Election Results

References

1. "Oklahoma Almanac 1989–1990" (pdf). State of Oklahoma. 1990. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
2. Cole Will Be Missed In Oklahoma Legislature
3. Butcher, Katrina (February 20, 2017). "Secretary of State Mike Hunterwas appointed as attorney general by Governor Mary Fallin". Retrieved February 22, 2017.
4. Mike Hunter defeats Mark Myles in race for Attorney General | KTUL
5. http://www.ok.gov/oag/Media/About_the_AG
6. "Hunter Named COO of American Bankers Association". Retrieved 27 April 2014.
7. Hoberock, Barbara. "Governor names Mike Hunter as Oklahoma's new attorney general". tulsaworld.com. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
8. "Bill Information for SCR 12". Oklahoma State Legislature. April 27, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
9. "The Oklahoma Commission on Opioid Abuse - Final Report" (PDF). Oklahoma Office of the Attorney General. January 23, 2018. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
10. "Committee approves bills to tackle opioid addiction in state | Oklahoma Senate". oksenate.gov. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
11. "Attorney General Hunter Announces Historic $270 Million Settlement with Purdue Pharma, $200 Million to Establish Endowment for OSU Center for Wellness". Oklahoma Attorney General. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
12. Krehbiel, Randy. "Settlement could be transformative for OSU Center for Health Sciences". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
13. Savage, Tres (2019-04-01). "Lawmakers 'extremely concerned' by Hunter's opioid settlement". NonDoc. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
14. "Attorney General Hunter Comments on Judge Balkman's Trial Schedule for State Opioid Lawsuit". Oklahoma Attorney General. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
15. "Mike Hunter". Oklahoma Attorney General. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
16. Herman, Bob. "Why Johnson & Johnson's opioids verdict is both big and small". Axios. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
17. Drash, Wayne. "Oklahoma urges judge in historic opioid case to deliver $17.2 billion verdict". CNN. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
18. "Attorney General Hunter Celebrates Major Victory for the State after Judge Balkman Issues $572 Million Judgment in Opioid Trial". Oklahoma Attorney General. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
19. "Oklahoma judge reduces J&J order in opioid lawsuit by $107M". Oklahoman.com. 2019-11-15. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
20. "Oklahoma appeals judge's $465 million order in opioid case". Oklahoman.com. 2019-12-16. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
21. Carey, Liz (2020-05-05). "Oklahoma Attorney General refiles opioid lawsuit against three distributors". Health Crisis Alert. Retrieved 2020-05-05.

External links

• Oklahoma Attorney General biography
• Appearances on C-SPAN