March 22, 2011, Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Governor Rick Scott named former federal prosecutor Ken Lawson as Secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. A native Floridian, Lawson has held numerous regulatory positions within the private sector and federal government. As Secretary of DBPR, Lawson will oversee the licensing and regulation of businesses and professionals in the state of Florida.
Lawson has held several senior positions with federal law enforcement agencies prior to this appointment. As the Assistant Secretary of Enforcement for the Department of the Treasury, he oversaw a staff of over fifty attorneys and investigators and had oversight of federal law enforcement agencies responsible for protection of America’s financial system. Lawson has also served as the Assistant Chief Counsel for Field Operations at the Transportation Security Administration. For seven years, he was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division for the Middle District of Florida (Tampa). In addition, Lawson served as a Captain in the United States Marine Corps, Judge Advocate General’s Division.
In the private sector, he spent two years with Booz Allen Hamilton as a consultant, including a year as Chief of Party for the Financial Crimes Prevention Project in Jakarta, Indonesia, where he directed international anti-money laundering, anticorruption, and counterterrorist financing projects. Lawson most recently served as Vice-President for Compliance at nFinanSe Inc., a financial services company in Tampa. He is a graduate of Florida State University and the Florida State University College of Law.
“With his background in federal law enforcement, prosecution, and the military, Ken Lawson brings an impressive track record to DBPR,” said Governor Scott.