NCJ Number
252623
Date Published
July 2016
Length
2 pages
Annotation
This report describes the procedures used by Georgia, in collaboration with federal agencies and their partners, to address its highest state probation rate in the nation and its projected 2-percent increase in its prison population in the next 5 years, after a significant decline in the prison population leveled off in 2014.
Abstract
This challenge occurred after Georgia had undertaken significant criminal justice reforms that reduced the state's prison population by almost 4 percent from 2012 to 2014, enabling the state to reinvest just over $85 million in recidivism-reduction strategies, such as expanding accountability courts and strengthening community supervision. In May 2016, leaders in the state's executive and legislative branches requested support for addressing its criminal justice challenges, contacting the U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and its partner The Pew Charitable Trusts (Pew) for the purpose of using a justice reinvestment approach in improving Georgia's criminal justice system. BJA and Pew, as public-private partners in the federal Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI), approved Georgia's request and asked The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center to provide intensive technical assistance in helping Georgia collect and analyze data and develop appropriate policy options for the state. The three-step Justice reinvestment approach is to 1) analyze data and develop policy options; 2) adopt new policies and put reinvestment strategies in place; and 3) measure performance. Over the coming months, the CSG Justice Center staff will conduct a comprehensive analysis of extensive data sets collected from various state agencies and departments, so as to build a broad understanding of statewide criminal justice trends. The Justice Center staff will also facilitate focus groups and interviews with front-line practitioners in Georgia's criminal jutice system.