Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens has been elected Chair of the Southern Region of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) for the second time in three years. The Southern Region includes the following 13 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Olens was elected chair by his fellow Southern attorneys general at the NAAG summer meeting in San Diego earlier this month. As chairman, he will serve on the Executive Committee of NAAG and be responsible for coordinating the agenda of the Southern Region.

“I am honored that my peers have placed their confidence in me to lead the Southern Region for NAAG for the second time” said Olens. “I look forward to working with my counterparts in the other Southern states on strategies and solutions to better our individual states and the entire Southern region.”

Olens was also elected Co-Chair of the Federalism/Preemption Committee and will serve on the Energy and Environment Committee, the Human Trafficking Committee, the Internet Safety/Cyber Privacy and Security Committee, the Law Enforcement and Prosecutorial Relations Working Group, the National Attorneys General Training and Research Institute/Training Committee, and the Substance Abuse Committee.

At the NAAG summer meeting, Olens delivered a presentation on alternative sentencing and criminal justice reform. He also hosted Cheryl DeLuca-Johnson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Street Grace, who gave a presentation on Georgia’s anti-sex trafficking initiative Georgia’s Not Buying It. Arizona and Indiana have already adopted this Georgia-initiated campaign aimed at ending demand for child sex trafficking and additional states are expected to sign on this year. 

NAAG also decided that it will host its December 2017 fall meeting in Jekyll Island, Ga.