Robert P. McCulloch

The Search for the New Executive Director

As many of you are aware, Newman Flanagan, our executive director for the past 12 years, announced his retirement at the fall meeting of the NDAA Board of Directors in Tucson. During his tenure, NDAA became prominent not only in Washington but also nationally. His departure will be a great loss for the association, and the selection of his successor has been our top priority since his announcement.

Because of the importance in choosing our next executive director, it is appropriate to inform you of what we are doing to ensure that we not only have continuity in our leadership but that we select the very best person available. My next letter should introduce our new executive director.

There are two things everyone needs to recognize about this process. First, NDAA is a corporation (incorporated in Illinois) and our by-laws clearly establish the procedures for selecting a new executive director. For our selection to be legally sound, we must adhere to those by-laws.

Secondly, the executive director of NDAA is also the president of the American Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI). APRI is our affiliated “think tank,” but is a separate corporation (incorporated in Virginia) and its by-laws establish that the executive director of NDAA shall also be the APRI president (but report to a separate board of directors in that role). This is an important distinction, because our search for the new director must consider the requisite abilities and knowledge needed to fill the APRI position as well.

Immediately following Newman’s announcement, the NDAA Executive Committee met to discuss the process for selecting a new executive director. The by-laws indicate that the executive committee has the responsibility for preparing the job announcement and description. The job announcement must then be sent to all NDAA members and advertised at least once in a national publication likely to reach potential candidates.

We accomplished this directive by drafting an announcement of the position based on the corporate responsibilities of the NDAA executive director. The announcement was sent by e-mail to NDAA Board members and to numerous other prosecutors. We requested that all state directors send the announcement to their respective state associations with a request that they advertise the position within their states. We also posted the announcement on the NDAA Web site, and many state associations and individual prosecutors did the same. Finally, we published the announcement in Lawyers Weekly, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.

The deadline for submitting applications was mid-February. Copies of the submitted applications were provided to the members of the executive committee, who culled appropriate candidates during a conference call later that month. In early March, a special meeting of the executive committee will be conducted to interview the applicants (the by-laws require that between three and 10 applicants be interviewed). Our responsibilities, also set out by the by-laws, are to present at least two finalists and not more than five to the NDAA Board of Directors.

The finalists will be notified and information on each will be sent to every NDAA Board member as soon as possible, to enable the Board members to review and to prepare for the board meeting on March 20, 2004, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The information on each candidate must include a summary of qualifications beyond the minimum expectations that resulted in the individual becoming a finalist. Any potential conflicts or problems should also be identified.

The finalists will be advised that they may appear before the board to make a statement of not more than five minutes. If they cannot appear in person, they will be permitted to deliver their statement via video. The full board will then have as much time as necessary to discuss the final candidates before selecting a new executive director.

I want to express my thanks and gratitude to the executive committee members who have worked so hard on this matter since we first learned about it in Tucson. I also want to thank the many other board members and state association directors who offered so many great ideas and suggestions, and made this task much easier for us.

NDAA is our association, and selecting our new executive director is of vital importance to the continued growth and vitality of the largest national organization representing America’s local prosecutors.