James Clark

James Clark serves as Inspector General for the Department of Human Services. The DHS Office of Inspector General promotes the health, safety and well-being of Medicaid recipients and helps to ensure taxpayer dollars are properly spent

Prior to joining DHS, James served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office (AGO). From 2016 to 2020, he worked in the AGO’s Human Services Division, where he represented DHS in state and federal courts and administrative proceedings. He has broad familiarity with the issues that the OIG refers to the AGO. He represented DHS in licensing, maltreatment, SIRS, background study, civil commitment, benefit recovery, civil rights, and data practices matters, as well as in litigation concerning federal and state Medicaid requirements. From 2020 to 2025, James worked in the AGO’s Medicaid Fraud Division. In this role, he investigated and prosecuted criminal and civil cases involving the theft of Medicaid funds, False Claims Act violations, and the abuse and financial exploitation of vulnerable adults. He developed significant experience managing complex financial investigations of nearly every type of Medicaid provider. 

James holds a Bachelor of Arts in U.S. History from Carleton College and a Juris Doctor from the University of Minnesota Law School. After law school, and prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office, he worked for several years at Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, where he provided pro bono representation to low-income Minnesotans in a wide variety of legal matters. It was at Legal Aid that James first came to understand the important role that DHS and other state-run programs play in promoting the health, safety, and well-being of individuals and families.