NCJ Number
251503
Date Published
November 2017
Length
4 pages
Annotation
After an overview of data on crime and criminal justice system trends in Ohio, this report presents an overview of steps Ohio's policymakers and federally funded technical-assistance partners are taking under the state's implementation of the federal Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI).
Abstract
In Ohio, the number of murders and aggravated assaults has risen; the use of opioids and other substances is overwhelming local communities, causing the arrest and imprisonment of people for drug offenses; local probation officers are supervising a large number of people; the limited amount of county data on supervision policies and practices makes it difficult for the state to assess local needs and provide targeted support; and the state's capacity to invest resources in addressing these local public-safety challenges is hindered by high corrections spending and a large prison population. In July 2017, Ohio's governor, chief justice, senate president, house speaker, and the attorney general requested support from the U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and The Pew Charitable Trusts to explore a justice reinvestment approach that follows the JRI model. The steps being taken under this state-federal cooperative model are as follows: 1) the analysis of crime and criminal justice data as the basis for developing policy options; 2) the adoption of new policies and the implementation of reinvestment strategies; and 3) the measure of performance. 2 figures