Who Governs the Governor’s Council
The Governor’s Council is an eight-member elected body that, among other functions, confirms all judges and members of the Parole Board and votes on pardons and commutations.
Despite its critical role, few voters know who their councilor* is or what they do. The purpose of this website is to educate voters on the Council’s importance, including its impact on the criminal legal system.
What is the Governor’s Council role?
The most well known function of the Council is to approve or reject judges nominated by the governor. But it also votes on members of the Parole Board and on pardons and commutations. The Council also confirms or rejects other government appointees–click here for more information.
Why is the Governor’s Council important?
The Governor’s Council has out-sized importance to the criminal legal system. Decisions by judges and parole board members greatly impact overly policed communities, BIPOC in particular, and the incarcerated population. Learn more about the Governor’s Council’s role here.
What are the issues?
The lack of transparency, accountability, and independence of the Governor’s Council are major concerns. Despite its vital importance to our civil and criminal legal system, the Governor’s Council is notable for its dysfunction and impropriety. Check out media coverage of the Council.
What can you do?
It is important to know who your councilor is, how they vote, and how they conduct themselves. Click here to find your councilor. But it’s most important that you vote! As you can see from our Elections page, once in office Governor’s Councilors have, in effect, a lifetime appointment. And they are all Democrats, so the election that matters is the Democratic primary in September.
*To add to the general confusion about the Governor’s Council, members are interchangeably referred to as “Councillor” and “Councilor.” We will use “Councilor” on this website except when quoting sources that use the other spelling.