On Wednesday, November 18, state leadership joined Governor Steve Bullock to launch a comprehensive examination of Montana’s criminal justice system as the state faces a growing prison population and costly projections to expand capacity. Through the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI), Montana will identify ways to reduce recidivism, curb corrections spending, and increase public safety in the state. The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) uses a data-driven approach to reducing corrections and related criminal justice spending and reinvesting savings in strategies designed to increase public safety through JRI.
The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, a BJA training and technical assistance provider, will take a top-to-bottom look at Montana’s criminal justice system and will examine issues such as crime and arrest trends, supervision, and the effectiveness of programs.
BJA NTTAC is also currently facilitating the delivery of technical assistance to implement JRI legislation in Oregon, and recently completed an engagement with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections to create an automated and centralized data repository for probation data.
For additional information on JRI and JRI sites, check out BJA’s Justice Reinvestment Initiative page here.