About the Office:
About Dustin
Dustin McDaniel became the 55th Attorney General of Arkansas in 2007. He was sworn in to his second term in January 2011 after being re-elected with strong support from across the state.
As Attorney General and the state's top consumer advocate, Dustin works tirelessly to protect the rights of Arkansas consumers.
Since Dustin became Attorney General, his Consumer Protection Division has recovered more than $8.5 million for consumers. In March 2012, he launched the Got Your Back, Arkansas initiative and GotYourBackArkansas.org to equip Arkansans with the information they need to navigate the consumer marketplace and avoid scams and fraud.
During his first term, Dustin effectively ended the payday lending industry in Arkansas and has resolved 2,194 payday lending consumer complaints and, through litigation, the state was awarded a total of over $7 million for consumers.
Also under Dustin's direction, the state secured its largest-ever settlement with a pharmaceutical company -- $18.5 million from pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly.
In February 2012, the Attorney General joined 49 states and the federal government in a landmark $26 billion settlement with the nation's five largest banks over allegations of fraud and abuse within the mortgage servicing industry.
As Arkansas's chief law enforcement officer, Dustin created the state's Leads on Labs program and a Cyber Crimes Unit, which is dedicated to finding, capturing, and prosecuting those who wish to exploit and harm our children.
In March 2012, Dustin was the first Arkansas Attorney General to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court in nearly 16 years in the Blueford v. Arkansas case.
A lifelong Arkansan, Dustin was born in Fayetteville, grew up in Jonesboro, and attended public school there. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and received his law degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Bowen School of Law.
He was a uniformed patrol officer with the Jonesboro Police Department prior to entering law school. Upon graduation, he practiced law at his family's law practice, McDaniel and Wells in Jonesboro, before being elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives in 2004.
Dustin is co-chairman of the National Association of Attorneys General's Tobacco Committee.
Dustin is married to Bobbi McDaniel and has one daughter, Emma Grace, and two stepchildren, CJ and Alex Fowler. In his free time, he enjoys being with his family. He is an avid hunter, a private pilot and owns a farm in Craighead County.
