DA Craig Watkins selected as Governing Magazine's Public Official of the Year

Most district attorneys make a name for themselves by winning convictions. Craig Watkins has done it by reversing convictions that never should have happened.

Every year since 1994, Governing has honored individual state and local government officials for outstanding accomplishment by naming them Public Officials of the Year. Elected, appointed and career officials from any branch of state or local government are eligible. Our readers are invited to nominate individuals who have had a notable positive impact on their department or agency, community or state.

The nomination process for the 2008 awards is now closed; nominations for the 2009 awards will open early next year.

Governing annually receives several hundred nominations from individuals in the public and private sectors. In addition, Governing staff consults experts and scholars in the field, and also nominates outstanding individuals they encounter in the course of their work. Nominations are evaluated by a selection committee, which, after painstaking research, chooses the winners.

The Public Officials of the Year are honored at an awards banquet in the fall, and their profiles appear in the November issue of Governing. Check out last year's winners and the winners from previous years.

Since their inception, the Public Officials of the Year awards have become the nation’s preeminent honor for state and local officials. The awards are regularly cited by journalists, governmental leaders and the winners themselves.