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

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

The National Governors Association recently hosted a briefing for Governors’ legal counsel reviewing the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022-2023 term. The U.S. Supreme Court issued a number of decisions of interest ...
2023 Governors’ Legal Counsel Convening

2023 Governors’ Legal Counsel Convening

The 2023 Governors’ Legal Counsel Convening was held on June 15-16th in Chicago, Illinois. Hosted by the National Governors Association, the event brought together Governors’ chief legal counsel, general counsel, ...
National Deflection Week

National Deflection Week

This week, the National Governor’s Association is recognizing National Deflection Week. During this period, we join in the shared recognition and celebration of the Deflection community, including volunteers, partners, service ...
Leveraging Telehealth for Justice-involved Populations With Substance Use Disorders

Leveraging Telehealth for Justice-involved Populations With Substance Use Disorders

This brief reviews activities undertaken by states to expand the use of telehealth for justice-involved individuals with SUDs during the COVID-19 pandemic, share lessons learned, and highlight considerations for Governors ...
Briefing on Community Responses to Mass Violence Incidents

Briefing on Community Responses to Mass Violence Incidents

On Thursday, June 22, 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 ...
2023 State of the State Addresses: Criminal Justice and Public Safety Priorities

2023 State of the State Addresses: Criminal Justice and Public Safety Priorities

Public safety continues to be a priority for states and territories. In 2023, Governors used their State of the State addresses to discuss numerous issues concerning criminal justice and public ...

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

Resources

NGA Center Releases Criminal Justice Guide For Governors

WASHINGTON—The majority of the U.S. prison population is housed in state prisons, which means governors have a unique role to play in shaping state corrections policies and criminal justice reform ...

A Governor’s Guide to Criminal Justice

Governors play a critical role in ensuring public safety and they oversee the state agencies responsible for implementing those policies and programs, such as corrections, state police, and juvenile justice ...

Testimony – Governor Markell D Block

Chairman Rockefeller, Ranking Member Hutchison and distinguished members of the committee, my name is Jack Markell, Governor of the state of Delaware and a member of the National Governors Association’s ...

Testimony – D Block Senate Commerce

On behalf of the nation’s governors, the National Governors Association (NGA) wishes to thank Chairman Rockefeller, Ranking Member Hutchison and the members of the Committee for examining how to best ...

Testimony – Tobacco Settlement

Chairman McCain, Senator Hollings, and members of the committee, my name is Ray Scheppach and I'm the Executive Director of the National Governors Association. Thank you for the opportunity to ...