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

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 ...
Read More

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 ...
Read More

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, ...
Read More

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 ...
Read More

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 ...
Read More

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

States Strengthen Youth Incarceration Alternatives

Today the National Governors Association (NGA) announced that five states and territories—Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma and the Virgin Islands—have been selected to participate in a learning lab focused on alternatives to incarceration for justice-involved youth ...
Read More

Two More States Join Criminal Justice Reform Project

The National Governors Association (NGA), in partnership with the National Criminal Justice Association Center for Justice Planning, today announced that two additional states—Delaware and Vermont—have been selected to participate in the National Criminal ...
Read More

State Court Case Moves Online Sales Tax Reform One Step Closer to Resolution

WASHINGTON— Earlier today, South Dakota’s state circuit court found a law that would have allowed the state to collect sales tax from online retailers unconstitutional. Governors are not surprised by the ...
Read More

Veterans Affairs

4.1 Preamble Governors strive to honor the service of the men and women in our nation's armed services. Service members often encounter challenges in the transition to civilian life and ...
Read More

Immigration

5.1 Preamble The nation's governors urge Congress and the Administration to enact immigration reform that strengthens the economy and our communities and secures our borders and ports. Governors acknowledge the ...
Read More

States Plan Data-Driven Criminal Justice Reform

Today the National Governors Association (NGA) announced that three states—Arizona, Illinois and Oregon—have been selected to participate in the National Criminal Justice Reform Project (NCJRP). In partnership with the National Criminal Justice Association ...
Read More