The State Center was formed in late 2004 with the goal of establishing an additional resource for state enforcers. The idea was initially the brainchild of Board President Kevin O’Connor with input and assistance of many others active in State Attorney General enforcement.
The State Center’s initial Board of Directors was formed by Kevin, James Tierney (former Attorney General of Maine), and Beth Farmer (former New York Assistant Attorney General). It was soon to be expanded to include Shirley Sarna (former New York Consumer Protection Bureau Chief). Stephen Houck, former Chief of New York’s Antitrust Bureau, was retained as the initial Executive Director. Prentiss Cox (former Minnesota Consumer Protection Chief) joined the Board in 2011.
Current Board members are Kevin O’Connor, Cynthia Coffman, Patricia “Trish” Conners, Tom Greene, Mihir Kshirsagar, Tam Ormiston, John Pitts, and Greg Zoeller, and their biographical information is available. In 2020 long-time executive director Steve Houck stepped down and was replaced by Anne Schneider, former Antitrust Counsel for the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. Through the State Center’s first 15 years, Steve skillfully guided its work, developing most of its programs and initiatives.
From its beginning, the State Center embraced a collaborative approach to working with the State Attorneys General and their staff and with the National Association of Attorneys General, federal agencies and other organizations, often co-sponsoring training events and supplementing existing programs. Thus, the State Center has sponsored and co-sponsored regional conferences for consumer protection enforcement staff, negotiation skills training, and the Antitrust Boot Camp. The State Center has facilitated collaboration and training at all levels of attorneys general’s offices.
The State Center has convened or co-sponsored numerous topical conferences, ranging from fraud against veterans and the elderly, state Do Not Call laws and debt collection practices to antitrust concerns in the health care industry. Its grants have also supported on-going efforts and initiatives among the states to address these issues.
State Center grants have enabled investigation and litigation strategy sessions and supported investigations in more specialized areas, such as data breaches, marketing practices of for-profit colleges, and antitrust violations by pharmaceutical manufacturers. State Center grants have also helped State Attorneys General obtain expert witnesses and consultants (including through the State Center’s Panel of Experts), utilize electronic document review platforms, and attend other training events.
In its first 15 years, the State Center has contributed more than $1.3 Million in direct grants providing a wide range of support for state enforcement activities, in addition to many hundreds of hours of both paid and volunteer time of its staff, interns, third party contractors and board members.