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 Governors Engagement in Foreign Affairs

CJPA Briefing On State Actions To Address Human Trafficking

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

CJPA Briefing on CCJs 2023 Year-End Crime Trends Report

Meet the team

Ken Hardy, Program Director
Lauren Dedon, Senior Legal Policy Advisor
Erin Daneker, Policy Analyst
Maria Kearl, Policy Analyst
Camille Lodugnon, 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

State Leaders Convene for Strategies on Drug Treatment and Recovery for Justice-Involved Populations

National Governors Association Workshops in Ohio and Louisiana Spotlight Medication Assisted Treatment in Criminal Justice System The National Governors Association (NGA) brought together nine states in Cleveland, Ohio, and New ...

Regional Workshops on Expanding Access to Medication Assisted Treatment for Justice-Involved Populations

June 10-11 and 13-14, 2019 | Cleveland, Ohio and New Orleans, Louisiana NGA Solutions: The Center for Best Practices hosted two regional workshops on expanding access to medication assisted treatment ...

Cleaning Up America’s Nuclear Weapons Complex: 2019 Update for Governors

This guide, produced by the National Governors Association's (NGA) Energy, Infrastructure & Environment team, outlines successes and challenges faced by states and DOE in cleaning up nuclear weapons waste created ...

Institute for State Criminal Justice and Public Safety Executives

Seattle | May 21-22, 2019 NGA hosted 34 states in Seattle to discuss issues around criminal justice and public safety at the 2019 Institute for State Public Safety Executives. Held ...

Letter Regarding Appropriations for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies

May 20, 2019 The Honorable Roy Blunt Chair Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education U.S. Senate Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable Patty Murray Ranking Member Appropriations ...

Impaired Driving Convening

Columbus, Ohio | May 2-3, 2019 The NGA Solutions: Center for Best Practices’ Impaired Driving Convening brought together 13 states to discuss strategies to address transportation safety and elevate the ...

Emerging Trends in the Evolving Opioid Epidemic

While the opioid overdose epidemic justifiably dominates national and state-level headlines, a significant issue is re-emerging for governors and policymakers across the country: cocaine, methamphetamine (meth) and stimulants are inflicting ...

Opioid Reference Guide for New Administrations

Developed by the NGA Center through a survey and extensive consultation with senior state officials and other national experts, our new opioid "Reference Guide for New Administrations" highlights key questions, ...

NGA Opioid Summit for New Administrations

Washington, DC | April 8-9, 2019 AGENDA From April 8-9. NGA hosted the Opioid Summit for New Administrations in Washington, D.C. Public health and public safety officials from 33 states ...

NGA to Assist 13 States in Strengthening Policies Against Impaired Driving

Columbus, Ohio, Summit Kicks Off Technical Assistance to States To address the grim and growing toll of impaired driving, the National Governors Association is working with 13 states on efforts ...

NGA 2019 Winter Meeting

Session videos from the National Governors Association Winter Meeting 2019 which took place Feb 22-25 in Washington, D.C. View Full Playlist ...

Governors Applaud Signing of the First Step Act Into Law

In response the President signing the First Step Act into law today, leaders of National Governors Association (NGA), which advocated for the passage of a bipartisan criminal-justice bill intended to ...