Karen Cowgill

Karen Cowgill is a project director for the National Drug Court Institute (NDCI), a division of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP). She retired from Maricopa County Adult Probation, where she served as an adult probation officer and supervisor for 20 years, 19 of which were with the DUI/drug courts. She also implemented a veterans court track in the drug court program. Beginning as a standard probation officer for DUI court, she moved on to become a supervisor for DUI court probation officers and then to supervise drug court officers. She serves as a grant reviewer for BJA and SAMSHA and has presented at numerous state and national conferences, including the American Probation and Parole Association and NADCP, and at the National Judicial College. Ms. Cowgill has served as the project director for multiple grants, including both BJA and SAMSHA awards. She managed a BJA grant to establish a Spanish-speaking court for the DUI court program. Ms. Cowgill graduated from Southwest Texas State University with a bachelor’s degree in social work and completed her master’s degree in education/leadership at Northern Arizona University. Prior to working in law enforcement, Ms. Cowgill served as a crisis counselor in the community and as a case manager for the seriously mentally ill.