Public Health Legal Authority for Good: Examples and Evidence

Public Health Legal Authority for Good: Examples and Evidence is an actionable, research-informed roadmap designed to support public health practitioners, policymakers, and community partners in understanding and applying public health legal authority in ways that prioritize effectiveness, fairness, and accountability to community priorities.

Public health “authority” refers to the legal powers that enable governmental public health to take actions to protect and promote public health, safety, and welfare. Public health actors get authority from laws and policies, and they use laws and policies to implement their mission.

This guide collects laws and policies from a range of U.S. jurisdictions, all related to establishing and exercising local and state public health authority effectively and fairly. It includes links to research supporting the use of these legal strategies to improve public health. The work presented in this resource is the result of collecting and synthesizing findings from conversations with staff and advocates all over the country; reports and calls-to-action for investing in an improved public health system; and research identifying trends in changes to public health authority via legislatures and the courts.

Please note that this roadmap does not endorse any particular law or its implementation generally. The specific laws and policies highlighted throughout are meant to provide helpful examples; however, the full implications of any particular law may be unknown or may vary by jurisdiction based on local circumstances.