Honoring the Best
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.
Nominations for the 2007 awards have closed. The nomination process for the 2008 awards will open after this year's awards are announced in November.
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.
All 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. For profiles of last year's winners, click here; for winners and from previous years, click here.
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.