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 soon expanded to include Shirley Sarna (former New York Consumer Protection Bureau Chief). Stephen Houck, former Chief of New York’s Antitrust Bureau, was 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, Tom Miller, Tam Ormiston, John Pitts, and Greg Zoeller, and their biographical information is available. Emily Myers became Executive Director in mid-2024.
From its beginning, the State Center embraced a collaborative approach to working with 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 a biennial Antitrust Boot Camp. The State Center has facilitated collaboration and training at all levels of attorney general offices.
The State Center has convened or co-sponsored numerous topical conferences, ranging from fraud against veterans and the elderly to state data privacy laws to antitrust concerns in the agriculture sector. Its grants have also supported on-going efforts and initiatives from the states to address these and other antitrust and consumer protection issues.
State Center grants have enabled investigation and litigation strategy sessions and supported investigations in specific 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.
Since its inception, the State Center has contributed more than $1.5 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.