Public Safety and Legal Counsel

Governors legal counsel serve as senior staff, overseeing legal issues with legislation, policy, executive orders, administrative actions, and executive appointments. Additionally, Governors are focused on public safety, crime, delinquency and related social and economic consequences. NGA serves the needs of governors and their policy advisors in a broad range of criminal, sentencing, corrections and justice-related policies.

Latest

Briefing on 2023-2024 U.S. Supreme Court Term

Briefing on Community Responses to Mass Violence Incidents

Briefing on Managing Public Records

CJPA Briefing on ‘Supporting Problem Solving and Specialty Courts’

Meet the team

Ken Hardy, Program Director
Lauren Dedon, Senior Legal Policy Advisor
Erin Daneker, Policy Analyst
Maria Kearl, Policy Analyst
Aisley Wallace Harper, Policy Coordinator

NGA Public Safety & Legal Counsel networks

Governors Criminal Justice Policy Advisors Network

The Governors Criminal Justice Policy Advisors (CJPAs) Network provides a forum for governors’ criminal and juvenile justice policy advisors to connect with their peers in other states, promote regional information sharing and collaboration, and learn about best practices and the latest research in the field. NGA convenes CJPAs for an annual institute and offers customized technical assistance to them as requested through research and strategic planning support.

Governors’ Legal Counsel
Network

The Governors’ Legal Counsel Network is comprised of chief legal counsel, general counsel, and legal deputies to Governors. As part of this network, counsel have the unique opportunity to share best practices and legal lessons learned with peers across the nation. NGA convenes legal counsel on regular briefing calls, hosts counsel at an annual meeting, and provides ad hoc technical assistance and research support to the network on a vast array of legal and policy issues.

Consortium Of State Public Safety Executives

The Consortium of State Public Safety Executives is a network of cabinet-level secretaries and commissioners from across the country who are responsible for oversight of their state’s public safety enterprise, including state police, fire, corrections, emergency management and/or other related agencies. Members connect with their peers to share lessons learned, receive briefings from national experts on best practices and receive ongoing technical support from NGA staff.

Resources

Briefing on 2023-2024 U.S. Supreme Court Term

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a number of decisions of interest to state and territorial governments during its 2023-2024 term. The Court issued 59 opinions in total, with many cases ...

Briefing on Community Responses to Mass Violence Incidents

On Tuesday, July 23, the National Governors Association (NGA) hosted its monthly briefing for the Criminal Justice Policy Advisors (CJPA) network. The briefing discussed best practices and available resources for ...

Briefing on Managing Public Records

On June 25, the National Governors Association hosted its monthly briefing for Governors’ legal counsel. The call discussed managing requests for public records and gubernatorial transition planning, including state approaches ...

CJPA Briefing on ‘Supporting Problem Solving and Specialty Courts’

On Thursday, June 27th, the National Governors Association (NGA) hosted its monthly briefing for the Criminal Justice Policy Advisors (CJPA) network. The briefing discussed policy considerations and strategies for supporting ...

CJPA Briefing on Considerations for Women in Correctional Settings

On Thursday, May 23rd, the National Governors Association (NGA) hosted its monthly briefing for the Criminal Justice Policy Advisors (CJPA) network. The briefing discussed policy considerations for women in state ...

Briefing on State Pardon and Commutation Processes

On April 30, the National Governors Association hosted its monthly briefing for Governors’ legal counsel which discussed legal considerations related to gubernatorial clemency authorities. Every state constitution authorizes the Governor ...

CJPA Briefing On State Homelessness and Reentry Policy

On Thursday, April 25th, the National Governors Association (NGA) hosted its monthly briefing for the Criminal Justice Policy Advisors (CJPA) network. The briefing discussed state actions on homelessness, with a ...

Briefing on Governors Engagement in Foreign Affairs

On Thursday, April 4, the National Governors Association hosted a joint call for Governors’ legal counsel and the Governors Homeland Security Advisors Council (GHSAC) which discussed gubernatorial engagement in foreign ...

CJPA Briefing On State Actions To Address Human Trafficking

On Thursday, March 28th, the National Governors Association (NGA) hosted its monthly briefing for the Criminal Justice Policy Advisors (CJPA) network. The briefing discussed state actions to address human trafficking, ...

Briefing on Legal and Regulatory Considerations for States Related to Artificial Intelligence

On Tuesday, February 27, the National Governors Association hosted its monthly briefing for Governors’ legal counsel which discussed legal and regulatory considerations for states related to artificial intelligence (AI). AI ...

CJPA Briefing on CCJs 2023 Year-End Crime Trends Report

On Thursday, February 29th, the National Governors Association (NGA) hosted its monthly briefing for the Criminal Justice Policy Advisors (CJPA) network. The briefing discussed the data and analysis included in ...

Governors Continue to Use Emergency Powers to Address the Drug Overdose Epidemic

Governors continue to take executive action and use emergency powers to respond to the nation’s drug overdose epidemic. Recently, Governors in at least two states have issued emergency orders addressing ...