photo by: Douglas County screenshot

Members of the Douglas County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council listen to a presentation during the group's meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023.

Douglas County’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Council is seeking some outside perspective as it looks to improve.

At Tuesday’s CJCC meeting, council members heard more about a project that will help the group assess whether its purpose and structure align with best practices for criminal justice systems across the nation. The CJCC is working with the Justice Management Institute, a nonprofit based in Arlington, Virginia, which specializes in offering technical assistance for criminal justice systems.

“We specialize by working closely with the jurisdictions and coming up with solutions with the jurisdictions for what’s best for your particular location,” program director Thomas Eberly told the CJCC Tuesday. “We’ve done this in more than 400 different counties.”

The work will cost Douglas County nearly $46,000, according to Criminal Justice Coordinator Katy Fitzgerald. The contract with the Justice Management Institute is for $45,906, specifically.

Kristy Danford, a senior adviser with the Justice Management Institute, said the goal for the project is for Douglas County to operate a high-performing CJCC that fully uses best practices and produces beneficial outcomes for the justice system and county residents.

The project will be taking place in phases throughout the next seven months, Danford said. For now, it’s in its initiation phase, and tasks planned for the first month include compiling a project calendar and management plan and reviewing historical information related to the CJCC.

The part of the process that comes next starts with gathering survey data and conducting one-on-one interviews with CJCC members. That information will then be used to develop a draft report with recommendations the CJCC can use as it reviews the group’s bylaws, Danford said.

The last phase is when any tangible changes to the CJCC’s functions could take place. That’s when Danford said the Justice Management Institute would be working with the group to update the bylaws however they’ve deemed necessary.

“Ultimately, the recommendations that we share with you, the intention is that almost all of them can be accomplished in one year,” Eberly added later in the meeting.

Douglas County Administrator Sarah Plinsky recalled the feeling among community leaders back when the Douglas County Commission established the CJCC in 2016 and said she’s looking forward to the group keeping an open mind when it comes to any changes that the project team might suggest.

“I think sometimes we think we’re the first people to ever do anything, that we kind of invent stuff in Lawrence and Douglas County and we make it our own,” Plinsky said. “It’s a community where we really like to have things that sort of work specifically for this community, and I think that’s right, but I’m really excited for us to have some conversation about how these councils fit into work that’s happening at a state, regional, national level and how they can work most effectively.”