NCJ Number
70823
Date Published
1980
Length
13 pages
Annotation
The research plan for the Justice System Improvement Study (JSIS) of Minnesota is presented with emphasis on project goals and methodology.
Abstract
The basic purposes of the JSIS are to determine whether Minnesota's 12 State executive branch criminal justice agencies exhibit characteristics of the organizational problem areas identified by national studies and to recommend organizational changes which would provide for a more intergrated and coordinated State criminal justice system. Five goals for the JSIS project have been established. They are to describe the programs, functions, and activities of the 12 agencies; to identify organizational problem areas within the agencies; to suggest reform measures; to determine the political feasibility of implementing organizational changes; and to collect expenditure information on the administrative service and support costs of delivering criminal justice programs. Research instruments which will be employed include a tool to extract descriptive information from the Minnesota Statutes, a tool to extract information from the Minnesota Code of Agency Rules, dimensional activity analysis for gathering empirical data regarding services, and an expenditure information instrument which consists of a detailed form to be completed by agency budget officers. Footnotes and appendixes presenting the activity and expenditure questionnaires are included.