Mr. Lassiter plans and directs operations of the Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and serves as a member of the Department’s senior leadership team. As Deputy Secretary of Juvenile Justice, he oversees juvenile facility operations, juvenile court services, juvenile community programs, and juvenile intervention and treatment programs.
Mr. Lassiter received his master’s degree in public administration from North Carolina State University; and has spent his whole career working in juvenile justice and school safety and is devoted to creating safer schools and communities for all our state’s youth.
Lassiter has co-authored Preventing Violence and Crime in America’s Schools: From Put-Downs to Lock-Downs, which takes an in-depth look at the causes and solutions of youth violence. Due to Lassiter’s knowledge of school safety, Gov. Roy Cooper appointed him as chair of the N.C. Task Force for Safer Schools in October 2019. This task force serves as an advisory board to the Center for Safer Schools, and provides guidance and recommendations to the Governor, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the General Assembly to improve statewide policy to enhance statewide and local capacities to create safer schools.
In addition to the Safer School Task Force, Lassiter also serves on several other boards and commissions including: the Governor’s Crime Commission, The Juvenile Justice Planning Committee, the Juvenile Jurisdiction Advisory Committee, and the Chief Justice’s Task Force on Trauma-Informed Courts.
Mr. Lassiter was honored to receive the prestigious National Service Award from the Hamilton Fish Institute on School and Community Violence, for his exemplary service to children, youth, and communities. In 2020 he was named a Defender of Justice from the North Carolina Justice Center for his exemplary work on policy and research, which paved the way to North Carolina raising the age of juvenile jurisdiction.
Lassiter has been featured on a number of major news networks and national publications including CNN, Fox News, the BBC, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and many others.