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

Briefing on State-Tribal Legal Affairs

On Tuesday, May 31, the National Governors Association hosted a its monthly legal counsel briefing on State-Tribal Legal Affairs. The call provided a high-level overview of the state-tribal legal landscape, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...