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

Governors Stand Against Antisemitism

Hate crimes are on the rise, jumping 11.6% in 2021, according to the latest FBI data. Among the more than 12,000 victims reported, 65% were targeted due to race, ethnicity ...
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Supporting Successful Workforce Reentry for Justice-Involved Individuals

As Governors continue to address workforce shortages in nearly every sector of the economy, state workforce development policymakers and their private sector partners remain focused on increasing labor force participation ...
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Briefing on Government Ethics Considerations

On Monday, February 27, the National Governors Association hosted its monthly legal counsel briefing, which discussed state and territorial ethics issues. Ensuring high ethical standards for both the government institution ...
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State Strategies to Address the Needs of Justice-Involved Youth Impacted by Collateral Consequences

This publication documents a series of learning calls, and a roundtable, held by NGA on collateral consequences for youth involved in the juvenile justice system and highlights key policy strategies ...
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DPAD Learning Collaborative

In January 2023, participants from Illinois, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania attended the kickoff meeting for the National Governors Association’s (NGA) Learning Collaborative on Strategies to Support the Development of ...
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Onboarding Session for Governors’ Legal Counsel

On Tuesday, January 31, the National Governors Association hosted an onboarding session for Governors’ legal counsel. The call discussed the role generally and highlighted key challenges and lessons for success ...
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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.

Meet the team

Ken Hardy, Program Director
Lauren Dedon, Senior Legal Policy Advisor
Erin Daneker, Policy Analyst
Maria Kearl, Policy Analyst
Micaja Verna, Policy Coordinator

Resources

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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Equity and Policy Preparedness During Public Health Emergencies

Emergencies, by definition, occur suddenly and without warning. Whether the situation involves an infectious disease like the current COVID-19 pandemic—or a natural disaster like the brutal hurricanes of recent years—these ...
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National Governors Association Asks Congress to Swiftly Pass Funding Package

Today, National Governors Association (NGA) Chairman Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas and Vice Chairman Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey called on Congress to swiftly pass a federal funding measure ...
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Age Boundaries in Juvenile Justice Systems

This brief focuses on emerging trends in raise-the-age efforts across states, including: (1) raising the maximum age of juvenile court jurisdiction beyond 18, (2) raising the floor, or minimum age, ...
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Letter on Canadian – U.S. Border Restrictions

At this point in the nation’s work to get the economy back on track, it is imperative that the federal government work more closely and transparently with us and our ...
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Governors on Criminal Justice and Public Safety Issues

Governors’ 2021 State of the State addresses confirm that while the challenges evolve in shape and scale, public safety and criminal justice issues remain top priorities across the country. By ...
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State of the States Opioid Survey and Analysis

Amidst a global pandemic that has challenged states’ capacities to respond to increasing overdose deaths, collecting and sharing information across partners to effectively respond to new challenges will be more ...
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Community Supervision and Treatment of Individuals With Substance Use Disorder

This policy brief highlights the common challenges and opportunities for governors and state officials to inform state and local policy development and improve outcomes for individuals with SUD who are ...
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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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