Attorney General
North Carolina Department of Justice

Roy Cooper serves as North Carolina's Attorney General to fight crime and protect consumers. He was first elected in 2000 and will begin his third term in 2009.  In the 2008 election, he received more votes than any candidate in North Carolina history.  Cooper’s initiatives include:
• Tougher sentences for child predators and pornographers and more tools to help law enforcement track down offenders.
• New mandates to require sex offenders to report where they live, plus email alerts when an offender moves into communities.
• Analysis of untested rape kits on law enforcement shelves with increased DNA testing and inclusion of all felons in the state's database of convicted offenders.
• The nation’s first comprehensive laws against predatory lending and elimination of payday loans from North Carolina.
• Removal of a key ingredient in meth manufacturing from easy purchase and tougher sentences for criminals who make the drug, resulting in a dramatic reduction of meth labs in North Carolina.
• Providing every school in North Carolina a kit to help educators and law enforcement plan for a crisis such as a school shooting.
• A safe harbor for victims of domestic violence and stalking through the Address Confidentiality Program.
Roy Cooper was born in Nash County, NC in 1957, attended public schools and worked summers on the farm. His mother, Beverly Cooper, worked as a school teacher and his father, Roy Cooper Jr., farmed and practiced law. He attended UNC Chapel Hill as a Morehead Scholar and later received his law degree.
Before becoming Attorney General, Roy Cooper practiced law and served in the legislature as House Judiciary Chair and later Senate Judiciary Chair and Majority Leader.
Roy Cooper is a Sunday School teacher and has served as an elder and deacon. He tutors children at a local middle school and has led fundraising for the March of Dimes, Barium Springs Home for Children and the United Way. He and his wife, Kristin, who is also an attorney, have three children, Hilary, 23, Natalie, 15, and Claire, 14.