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The Importance of State Legislatures

State legislators play a central and often decisive role in shaping how the criminal justice system functions. Legislatures debate, amend, and vote on laws that directly affect policing, pretrial policy, courts, sentencing, corrections and reentry. They also provide significant or complete financial support to various parts of the justice system, especially the judiciary and departments of correction.

The breadth of the issues legislatures are responsible for require most members to be policy generalists. Few lawmakers have a background in criminal law or experience of any kind with the criminal justice system. They often depend on staff, researchers, subject matter experts, lobbyists, practitioners and community members to help them gather information and shape effective policy.

While legislators draw on research provided by their staff or organizations like the National Conference of State Legislatures, they also rely heavily on experts in the field-people like you-to offer practical insights and firsthand perspectives on how laws and public funding impact criminal justice programs. This is especially true in states where legislators have limited staff or no personal staff.

This guide is designed to help criminal justice stakeholders:

• Understand how state legislatures work and how lawmakers gather information to shape justice-related policies.
• Develop effective lines of communication with their elected officials and provide constructive input throughout the legislative process.

Understanding Legislatures and the Legislative Process

Legislatures vary from state to state, with differences in the number of legislative members and staff, time spent in session, legislative procedures, political makeup and so on. It is important to spend time learning about the specifics of the legislative branch in your state.

Despite these differences, the general legislative process is similar across states. This section summarizes the basics of the legislative process, including how bills become law, and who is involved in the legislative process. It is important to know how the process works to communicate effectively with its participants!

Legislative Process

The legislative process-in theory-follows a predictable and rational path that goes something like this:

• A legislator introduces a bill.
• The bill is assigned to a committee.
• The committee holds public hearings.
• The committee acts on the bill, e.g., amends it, sends it to the full House or Senate for debate, sends it to a fiscal committee, or kills it.
• Legislators debate the bill's merits, may amend it, and vote it up or down.
• If it is approved, the bill then goes to the other chamber, where the process is repeated.
• If the bill is amended during consideration by the second chamber, such changes must be approved by the first chamber, and it may go to a conference committee to resolve differences between the two chambers.
• Once enacted by the legislature, the governor may sign it, veto it, or in some states, let it become law without explicit approval through signature.
• If the governor vetoes the bill, the legislature may sustain or override the governor's veto.

While these are the steps in every state-except Nebraska, which has a unicameral legislature with one chamber-the human factor is a significant part of the legislative process. You must not only know the process or the "rules of the game" but also the players.

Individual lawmakers have different values, backgrounds, knowledge, agendas, priorities, alliances, personalities and biases. They also represent individual and unique districts that may influence their decisions. So, what you have, in any state legislature, is a group of independent-minded individuals who will not follow the legislative process exactly as laid out above, or act in accordance with directives from legislative leaders, governors, political party chiefs or others.

That is what makes for the unpredictability of the legislative game: nothing ever proceeds precisely the way it is expected. The rules of the game can sometimes change, and the actions of the players may not always make sense on the surface.

Trust plays a major, but unwritten, role in the legislative process. Legislators cannot be expected to be knowledgeable about every proposal that comes before the legislature. When bills outside their area of expertise or experience are considered, they rely on the knowledge of other members or stakeholders whom they trust.

There are also occasions when a member's vote has no relationship whatsoever to trust, logic, knowledge or anything obvious. The same can be true for actions of a legislative body as a whole.

That truth was best expressed years ago by Norris Cotton, a U.S. Senator from New Hampshire. On one of those inexplicable days when nothing was proceeding along rational or predictable lines, Cotton observed: "The members are in such a mood today that if somebody introduced the Ten Commandments, they would reduce them to eight."

The bottom line is that it is important to learn how the legislature in your state operates, to try to get to know your local legislators and expect unpredictability.

Members and Staff

Many professionals support and interact with legislatures, and each has a specific role in the legislature.

• Legislators: The nation's 7,386 state legislators were elected to represent the constituents in their districts. Legislators are policy generalists, not experts on most issues, although they may have expertise in one or more policy areas. Regardless, they vote on issues from A to Z-agriculture to zoning- and may benefit from your firsthand experience with criminal justice. Certain legislators hold positions of authority within the legislature, including the speaker of the House and the president of the Senate, the majority and minority floor leaders and whips, and committee and caucus chairs. Knowing leadership's agenda can inform stakeholders about shared policy priorities and which proposals are most realistic.
• Legislative Staff: Legislative staff members play important roles in the legislative process. Many legislatures, for example, employ permanent, nonpartisan staff to provide research on specific legislation that may be considered during the legislative session. Some states have a separate research staff for each chamber, while others employ a single shared research staff. In addition, legislatures employ other staff members, including legal staff, librarians and fiscal analysts. Some have personal staff, but not all. In the 16 states with term limits, legislative staff are often the keepers of institutional memory.
• Others in the Mix: In addition to legislators and staff, various other people interact with state legislators, among them constituents, lobbyists, state agency officials, local government officials and statewide associations.

Time Spent in Session

States vary in how long legislators are in session, from nearly year-round legislatures like California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, to sessions that last less than two months in Florida, Louisiana, Utah and Wyoming. Fourt states, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota and Texas, meet only every other year. Knowing when your state legislature is in session is critical. See NCSL's State Legislative Session Calendar for the most recent information.

Rules of the Game

Every state has formal rules that affect the process, including for example, requirements about how many bills a legislator can introduce in a session, the deadline for introducing bills and the process for assigning bills to a committee. Understanding the rules that govern the process in your state is important since they determine the timing and flow of bills through the legislative process and can shed light on the pressure legislators may face to prioritize issues.

If you want to provide input on a specific bill, you need to know what committee the bill has been assigned to. The appropriate committee for criminal justice issues varies by topic and the name of the committee varies by state. The most common name for the relevant committee across the states is the judiciary committee. Other committee titles addressing criminal justice issues include criminal justice and public safety, law enforcement and criminal justice, law and justice, corrections, or courts, corrections and justice.

It is not uncommon for a state appropriations or fiscal committee to have a subcommittee dedicated to funding criminal justice systems like corrections. In many states committees with jurisdiction over criminal justice issues are among the busiest committees and are tasked with hearing many bills in a short amount of time. To address this workload, states can have more than one judiciary or criminal justice committee to divide up issues and separate them into different scopes of jurisdiction.

You need to identify the correct committee in your state and know when committee hearings take place and what the rules are for presenting testimony. While the process may seem cumbersome, the rules were designed to protect against a rush to judgment and ensure that policies are reviewed by many people before going into effect.

The Importance of Elections and Partisan Composition

For criminal justice stakeholders looking to communicate with legislators, do not underestimate the role of elections and political makeup within each state and across the nation. In 2026, the majority, or 6,122 of 7,386, of state legislative seats nationwide are up for election. Additionally, 39 states will choose governors. On average, 20% of legislators are new each election cycle, which presents challenges learning about wide-ranging policy issues, budgets and the legislative process in short order.

The day after an election, people in the state legislature face new colleagues, including shifts in the balance of power, potential new leadership and executive priorities. Strategies for communicating may need to change to fit new human or political realities. Furthermore, any work done to educate legislative leaders, committee chairs or your own representatives last year will need to be updated and repeated.

ENTER PARTISAN COMPOSITION MAPS from: https://www.ncsl.org/about-state-legislatures/state-partisan-composition

How to Communicate Effectively with Legislators

Those who want to contribute information to the legislative process should understand the multitude of constraints that affect how legislators respond to public policy issues or proposals. Despite this, the good news is that most legislators see themselves as students. Challenges include the following:

• Short learning curve: About 20% of legislators are new after each election, so it may be a challenge for them to learn about wide-ranging policy issues, budgets and the legislative process in short order.
• Term limits: In the 16 states with term limits, there may only be a few experienced fellow legislators with institutional memory and deep policy knowledge to share with new members. On the other hand, this need for education presents opportunities for stakeholders and organizations to share information on a wide range of policy topics.
• Information Overload: Legislators make decisions about hundreds of policy topics each session. States vary in how many bills are introduced each year, from a high of 19,500 in New York to a low of 514 in Alaska in 2025. While legislators are not totally involved in every bill that comes before them, they do need to know enough to vote. Being cognizant of this information overload is a key to effective communication with legislators.
• Timing matters: An ideal time to meet with legislators is when they are not in session because they simply have more time for learning and connecting. However, there is never a bad time to engage them. Because of the nature of most state legislatures, state legislators have other jobs that they go back to following session. They may also live some distance from the state capitol. Catching them when their focus is on state legislation can actually be beneficial, even if the best conversation may happen between sessions.

ENTER STATE TERM LIMITS MAP FROM: https://www.ncsl.org/about-state-legislatures/the-term-limited-states

Four Strategies for Effective Communication

1. Establish Contact and/or a Relationship with Key Legislators

Identify the committees of jurisdiction and the legislators on these committees who have the greatest influence concerning criminal justice issues. This may be the committee chair, interested committee mem­bers, or perhaps even your own representative. Contact key legislators, meet with them, and identify yourself as a knowledgeable and dependable resource. In short, establish yourself as the trustworthy "go-to" person for criminal justice issues.

In some states, the best way to reach legislators may be by building a relationship with key people on their staff. Follow up by contacting them periodically as a reminder that you are interested in being a resource. A good time to contact them, for example, might be on the heels of newly released data; you can help them interpret and discuss ways the legislature might address issues that the data highlights.

If your professional capacity restricts you from such activities, consider making similar contact with your own organization's governmental relations staff, state professional membership organizations or other influential people who are allowed to contact legis­lators. You can also connect with a community-based advocacy group to offer your expertise and assistance.

Keep In Mind

• Learn the budgeting process from the governor to the legislature as early as possible. The earlier programs you care about get into the budget, the more likely they are to remain there.
• Become legislators' source for information. Above all, be trustworthy. Legislators do not like surprises.
• Cut to the chase with your information, make sure your facts are correct, be honest about the pros and cons of policies, and be responsive-legislators often need concise information fast.
• Develop a compelling narrative. High-profile events often generate publicity, and policy implications are not always understood. Concise facts can illustrate why justice is a pressing state concern.

2. Network with Others

As the adage goes, it is not always what you know, but who you know that counts. Getting information into the hands of legislators may be more about the relationships you have-with the media, state agencies, foundations and other stakeholders-than your direct relationship with a legislator. Informing a network of individuals can also efficiently and effectively raise awareness about a wide range of criminal justice issues.

These issues cross many jurisdictions and interest areas, among them health systems, workforce develop­ment, private business, religious organizations and family services. The broader your coalition, the more support a lawmaker can expect among his or her colleagues.

Keep in Mind

• Build a network and speak as a group with a unified voice.
• Collaboration can be difficult. Agree to disagree but come together on a couple of shared top issues and support those priorities with a common voice.
• Keep individuals and groups with similar interests apprised of your activities, even if they are not part of a formal collaboration. You may find additional areas where you can support each other if the lines of communication are open.
• Connect with people who have skills and expertise, e.g., data analysis, communications, commu­nity-building or policy, who can help get your message across. Develop and maintain relationships through traditional means and networking through social media.
• Develop a system for communicating important information to your network. Provide information regularly about topics that matter to them, including new resources and funding opportunities.

3. Raise Awareness Through Information and Resources

Why is education so fundamental? Because even experienced legislators need access to current data and objective analysis on rapidly changing issues. Criminal justice stakeholders can play a role in raising awareness about issues affecting people impacted by the justice system in each legislative district. When they are not at work in the state capitol, legislators interact with the community in various ways, and often organize multiple venues for a "give and take" with their constituents at town hall meetings, ask me anything (AMAs), or other online forums and settings.

Another method to educate policymakers is to raise important issues with the people and organizations that legislators rely on for information, including legislative staff, researchers, the media, foundations and charitable organizations, state agencies, membership organizations and others.

For some, this might mean ensuring that your government relations person knows your priori­ties and has your most recent data to share with legislators. Although this may seem one step removed, it still can be an effective strategy, particularly if the information is coming from a trusted source for the legislator.

Keep in Mind

• Prioritize the issues that are most critical to you and most relevant to the current environment. Avoid information overload!
• Make suggestions about topics that others with access could highlight for legislators. For example, consider identifying the hot topics of the day or explaining what new legislators need to know about criminal justice. Or piggyback on major news events, such as new federal actions.
• Let people know what information you have and what you can get. Keep it readily available and follow up promptly if they call. Establish rapport.

4. Frame Your Message

At any given time, one issue or a small group of predominant issues or controlling ideas may drive the ac­tions of a state legislature. For many years, states have been dealing with tight budgets; therefore, focusing on effective and efficient strategies is often the filter through which legislators evaluate all proposals and funding requests. As a result, it is important to frame the message by addressing several key points:

• How does the issue affect individuals and businesses in the district and state? Specifically, what are the costs and benefits related to a specific program or bill? What is the return on investment?
• Understand and respect that some lawmakers will not be receptive to focusing on rehabilitation, while others will not be receptive to discussions driven by cost savings.
• What are best practices? Has a program or strategy been implemented elsewhere with positive re­sults? Could it be replicated here? What are key differences that could present challenges?
• What are the consequences of not acting?
• Would new efficiencies make programs more effective or less costly?

Consider the language or image you use to increase the odds that people will pay attention to your mes­sage. People bring their own experiences and frames of reference to bear, and the words or images you use can determine whether your audience will be open to the message or turn away from it. Creating receptive listeners requires that you pay attention to how you frame an issue so people feel that it benefits everyone. Ideally, messages should all align with "big ideas" or shared beliefs, such as promoting public safety, reducing crime and ensuring fairness.

Keep in Mind

• Craft the message to the current times. If the budget is the primary concern, frame the issue in terms of how much money it costs, where the money comes from and its return on investment. For example, how many jail-bed days can a new program save?
• Make the message relevant. Even a few days in jail can harm an individual's health, housing situation, family relationships or employment prospects and increase their chance of future incarceration due to reoffending.
• Address the effects on constituents and/or the district. It is possible that the only time a legislator discusses criminal justice is when he or she gets a call from a constituent with a major issue. That issue may be relevant to many stakeholders, or just that one person. Highlighting how the justice system works not just for that one person-but for all the legislator's constituents-can lead to more compre­hensive policy changes, instead of policy bandages.
• Humanize the issue. Addressing the economic effect is important, but remember that legislators are taxpayers and community members, and may have a family member who has been impacted by the justice system.
• Leverage headlines and media coverage to communicate your message. Think about information and resources you have that could inform policymaking around that issue.