Terence Check is Senior Counsel for Infrastructure Security in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Office of Chief Counsel. In this role, Terence manages CISA’s repository of legal authorities and advises on constitutional and national security law issues in support to CISA’s critical infrastructure security mission, particularly on information-sharing, data protection, school safety, and counter-terrorism issues.

Prior to joining CISA, Terence served as an Attorney-
Advisor in the DHS Office of the General Counsel’s Operations and Enforcement Law Division. Terence advised DHS offices and components on matters involving screening/vetting, biometrics (including facial recognition and DNA), data privacy, and information-sharing issues. In this role, Terence served as a lead negotiator on Department- wide info-sharing and border security agreements across the Americas and Europe and expanded DHS’s biometric support to federal criminal prosecutions, resulting in scores of convictions for crimes ranging from naturalization fraud to drug smuggling. Before that, Terence worked in the National Protection and Programs Law Division and advised on a wide range of general law and operational matters, including internal investigations, tort claims, and information law.

Terence graduated magna cum laude from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University with his J.D. and from the American University, Washington College of Law with his LL.M in Law & Government, specializing in National Security Law and Administrative Law. While at American University, Terence served a Fellow in the Office of the Chairman of the UN Committee against Torture, which implements the UN Convention against Torture. Terence also holds a B.A. from Cleveland State University as well as several certificates from the University of Texas at Austin and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. In 2013, Terence worked in the Chambers of the Hon. James S. Gwin of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Terence has published several works of legal scholarship in the areas of cybersecurity, international, and national security law and was the Editor-in-Chief of the Cleveland State Law Review from 2013-2014. Terence sits on the National Advisory Board for the Cleveland State University Center for Cybersecurity and Data Privacy and is an adjunct professor at Cleveland State University.