
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 State Impacts from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022-2023 Term

2023 Governors’ Legal Counsel Convening

National Deflection Week

Leveraging Telehealth for Justice-involved Populations With Substance Use Disorders

Briefing on Community Responses to Mass Violence Incidents

2023 State of the State Addresses: Criminal Justice and Public Safety Priorities
NGA Public Safety 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.
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. Through the consortium, members can connect with their peers in other states to share lessons learned, receive briefings from national experts on best practices in the field and receive ongoing technical support from NGA staff.
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