2008 Special Committee on Justice Reinvestment Initiative Oversight

The Special Committee is directed to serve as the entity to which the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center reports. The study committee process creates a unique forum in which legislators will receive data from the Justice Center along with public members who work directly in different aspects of the corrections and criminal justice systems. The CSG Justice Center will provide technical assistance relating to corrections costs. Specifically, the technical assistance will include: (1) mapping of specific neighborhoods where large numbers of offenders are released from prison to identify how to improve coordination of services, correctional supervision, and law enforcement; (2) analyzing the prison population to determine what is driving its growth and to identify which categories of offenders are at high risk of re-offending; (3) developing policy options, based upon the data collected, to increase public safety and decrease corrections spending; and (4) projecting the fiscal impact of any policy options identified. Therefore, legislators and public members on the committee would develop a comprehensive understanding of the data collected and the issues identified and would be better equipped to analyze policy options relating to corrections.