Chris Cottrell

Chris Cottrell is the founder of Daddy Read a Book, and the student who wrote Chris' Law: Victim's Protection Act.

Early life & Education
Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Christopher Tron Cottrell is a graduate of Arizona State University where he studied political science before earning his M.B.A. from Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business.

Chris' Law
At the age of twelve, Cottrell wrote an idea for legislation as part of a homework project for a student legislature that was discovered and introduced by then-Senator Dean Martin. "Chris' Law," along with an amendment to the Arizona Constitution, keeps alleged sexual offenders from posting bail and established the first boundary around Arizona schools so convicted sexual offenders could not live in proximity of schools.

The bill was introduced to the Arizona State Senate in 2002 by Senator Dean Martin as "Chris' Law - Victim's Protection Act". It passed the Judiciary Committee and the Arizona Senate in March 2002. The Arizona House of Representatives also voted in favor of the bill a month later and it was signed into law by Governor Jane Dee Hull on May 17, 2002.

Prop 103, the constitutional amendment accompanying the bill, was on the Arizona ballot in November, 2002 and passed with 80.4% of the vote, one of the most popular ballot measures in Arizona history.

Daddy Read a Book
In 2012, Cottrell founded non-profit Daddy Read a Book focused on supporting children's literacy and connecting families. Daddy Read a Book meets with families facing separation through military deployment, incarceration, etc., and films the separated father reading beloved children's books out loud. Then the family receives a copy of that video to watch while the father is gone.

Chris delivered a talk at TEDx about the importance of childhood reading titled Why We Should Fight for Reading.

Military Career
While studying at Georgetown, Cottrell joined the Army Reserve's Military Intelligence branch.