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

Empowering Returning Citizens to Connect to Higher Education and Employment Opportunities

The 2022 NGA Winter Workforce Symposium Highlight featured a session on empowering people leaving prison in the workforce through connecting them to higher education and employment opportunities. by Rachel Hirsch ...
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State Targeted Violence Prevention: Programming & Key Performance Indicators

A resource to develop communities statewide that are well-equipped to prevent targeted violence. (Download) State Targeted Violence Prevention The following resource aims to serve as a guide for U.S. state ...
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State Efforts to Improve the Continuum of Care for Substance Use Disorder and Opioid Use Disorder

Lessons Learned from the National Governors Association Substance Use Disorder Learning Collaborative in Six States (Download) Executive Summary In June 2020, the National Governors Association (NGA) launched the Strengthening Substance ...
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Governors Leading to Strengthen Traffic Safety by Reducing Impaired Driving

This report looks at the findings from a 2019–2021 learning collaborative in which NGA hosted experts from academia, government, and the private sector to discuss a range of emerging issues ...
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Lessons Learned in State Collaboration to Address Substance Use Disorder and Justice-Involved Individuals

This policy brief highlights lessons learned from collaborative efforts in Hawai‘i, Pennsylvania and West Virginia between SAAs and SSAs to address SUD issues within justice-involved populations. (Download) Executive Summary A ...
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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.

Resources

Governor Action Related to Law Enforcement and Policing

In response to public calls for policing reforms and in the wake of recent high-profile civilian deaths due to the use of force by police officers, many Governors and state ...
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COVID-19 Impacts on Justice-Involved Kids: Lessons Learned from States

This issue brief highlights lessons learned and several overarching strategies from 2020 COVID-19 pandemic response efforts that Governor’s offices and state officials can utilize to address this pandemic within the ...
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Coalition Letter on FEMA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: “Cost of Assistance Estimates in the Disaster Declaration Process for the Public Assistance Program.”

March 5, 2021 Mr. Bob Fenton, Acting AdministratorFederal Emergency Management Agency500 C Street, SWWashington, D.C. 20024 Dear Acting Administrator Fenton: On behalf of our collective organizations, we write to express ...
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Expanding Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Corrections and Community Settings

During this webinar, NGA and ACA provided an overview of a step-by-step guide for governors and state officials to expand access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) with the goal ...
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Associations Release Roadmap on Strategies for Countering Opioid Misuse in Correctional Settings

As opioid overdoses continue to claim tens of thousands of American lives each year, the National Governors Association (NGA) and the American Correctional Association (ACA) released a roadmap outlining strategies ...
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Expanding Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Corrections and Community Settings

This roadmap highlights existing state efforts and serves as a policy development tool for Governors and state officials seeking to improve coordination and bolster existing efforts across state agencies to ...
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Issue Brief: Preventing Targeted Violence

This issue brief was created to help governors implement a multidisciplinary strategy to prevent targeted violence. This brief distills the latest research and draws from elements of public-health interventions to ...
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State and Local Government Organizations Welcome Biden-Harris Inauguration, Condemn Acts of Violence

The National Governors Association, The Council of State Governments, National Conference of State Legislatures, National Association of Counties, National League of Cities, U.S. Conference of Mayors and the International City/County ...
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COVID-19 Vaccine Prioritization and Administration in Correctional Settings

This memorandum provides an overview of how states have prioritized correctional staff and incarcerated individuals as part of publicly available vaccine plans and discusses considerations around the administration of such ...
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Policy Scan of States Driver’s License Rules Ahead of the Election

The following document is intended to provide references to state statutes, regulations, executive orders, policies, and other resources that are currently in the public domain. This document is not an ...
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COVID-19 Health and Safety Measures for Elections

This memorandum provides an overview of practices implemented by election officials and considerations for Governors to help reduce the risks of spreading COVID19 for the upcoming election. (View/Download) Background As ...
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National Governors Association Leadership Condemns Plot Against Michigan Governor, Praises State and Federal Response

New York Governor and National Governors Association Chairman Andrew Cuomo and Arkansas Governor and NGA Vice Chairman Asa Hutchinson issued the following statement in response to the Department of Justice ...
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