Leslie A. Hagen, Senior Counsel

Leslie A. Hagen serves as the Native American Issues Coordinator for the Executive Office for United States Attorneys. In that capacity she serves as a liaison and technical assistance provider to Justice Department components and the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee on Native American Issues. Ms. Hagen also serves as Senior Counsel in the SMART Office where she works with 197 federally recognized tribes implementing the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

Most recently she was an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) in the Western District of Michigan. As an AUSA, she was assigned to Violent Crime in Indian Country handling federal prosecutions and training on issues of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse affecting the eleven federally recognized tribes in the Western District of Michigan. Ms. Hagen has worked on criminal justice issues related to child abuse, domestic violence and sexual assault for over 19 years earning a national reputation as a legal expert and trainer.

Prior to joining the Department of Justice, she served as the staff attorney with the Civil Legal Justice Project for the Michigan Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence and as a specialist in Michigan State University’s School of Criminal Justice. From 1997-2001, Ms. Hagen served as the Violence Against Women Training Attorney for the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan. During her 4.5 years in that position, Ms. Hagen developed a program that was recognized as "one of the best state-level training programs on violence against women in the country" by the Institute for Law and Justice in Washington, DC through an evaluation conducted for the Department of Justice. Ms. Hagen was the elected Prosecuting Attorney for Huron County, Michigan for two terms, an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for Midland County, Michigan and a Prehearing Division Attorney for the Michigan Court of Appeals.

Ms. Hagen has extensive teaching and training experience. She has served as faculty at numerous seminars and has given hundreds of presentations to legal, law enforcement, service provider and other audiences. She has served as faculty or a guest lecturer at several universities.

Throughout her career, Ms. Hagen has received many honors, including a Director=s Award from the Department of Justice in 2004, a 2001 appointment by Michigan Governor John Engler to the Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Task Force, appointments in 2001-2002, 2002-2003, 2003-2004, 2004-2005, 2005-2006, and 2006-2007 to the position of Chair for the State Bar of Michigan’s Domestic Violence Committee, gubernatorial appointments to two terms on Michigan’s Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Board, and the 1991 Outstanding Young Lawyer Award from the State Bar of Michigan.

Ms. Hagen is a graduate of Alma College and Valparaiso School of Law.