Lisel Petis

Lisel Petis serves as Policy Director and leads the Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties team at the R Street Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. She researches, writes, and educates policymakers and practitioners on practical, bipartisan ways to strengthen public safety, reduce system costs, and protect constitutional rights.

Petis’ work spans a range of criminal justice and civil liberties issues, including pretrial practice, public safety responses, and the legal limits on government power. Recent publications include “Militarizing Public Safety Responses Is a Strategic and Legal Misstep” and “The Future of Military Troops in American Cities Is Now Before the Highest Court.” She served as an expert for the National League of Cities’ Mayoral Convenings on Community Safety and Violence Prevention, the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Pretrial Fellowship, and the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys Leadership Institute. She has also been interviewed as a subject matter expert by outlets including C-SPAN, Fox 31 Colorado, Public News Services, Governing, and the Washington Examiner.

Before joining R Street, Petis served as executive director of Better Tomorrow, where she supported victims of domestic and sexual violence, and helped establish her community’s first Child Advocacy Center to provide forensic interviews and forensic exams for victims of child abuse. She previously practiced criminal and civil law, including several years as a prosecutor, and argued a matter of first impression before the Colorado Court of Appeals and the Colorado Supreme Court. Petis also served five years on the Steamboat Springs City Council and has held appointments from the Governor of Colorado and the 14th Judicial District Chief Judge.

Petis holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Colorado and a juris doctor from the University of Denver. She lives in Greenville, South Carolina, with her husband, Geoff, and daughter, Penelope.