(1939-2016)
- Oregon State Representative, 1975-1985.
- Speaker of the House, 1979-1983.
- Attorney General of Oregon, 1997-2009.
About Attorney General Myers
From an interest in politics that began during his junior high and high school years, Myers had a long and accomplished career in state politics. He served in the Oregon House of Representatives for five terms from 1974-1985. He held the position of Speaker of the House from 1979 to 1982, a particularly contentious time in the House.
Some of the legislation he considered most important was the reform of the financing of the state judicial system, prison and parole reforms, and crime victims’ compensation. As Speaker, he instituted new rules for minority party participation and other jurisdictional changes. During the final two sessions Myers oversaw as Speaker, the economic crisis in the state required his attention.
In 1996, Hardy Myers was elected attorney general. In that post, Myers led significant changes in consumer protection laws, child support laws, and oversight of charitable organizations. He created the Attorney General’s Sexual Assault Task Force that created lasting changes. Under Myers’ leadership Oregon, along with other states, successfully prosecuted major tobacco companies that resulted in a very large financial settlement.
As Oregon’s Attorney General Myers successfully rebutted federal challenges to Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act: “Ultimately, the Supreme Court, a majority of the court, agreed that the interpretation being given by the US Attorney General and the Department of Justice by the Bush Administration were incorrect as a matter of law; that they were acting unlawfully.”
– Interview recorded January 29, 2016