photo by: Screenshot

Pictured clockwise from top left are Justice Matters members Joanna Harader and Kirsten Kuhn, presumed Douglas County District Attorney-elect Suzanne Valdez and presumed Douglas County Sheriff-elect and current Lt. Jay Armbrister during an annual meeting of Justice Matters, a local grass roots coalition, held virtually on Oct. 26, 2020.

The Democratic primary winners of Douglas County’s top law enforcement positions on Monday affirmed their commitment to work with a national nonprofit organization focused on criminal justice reform.

Suzanne Valdez, the presumed next district attorney, and Lt. Jay Armbrister, the presumed next sheriff, spoke Monday evening during an annual Community Problems Assembly hosted by Justice Matters, a local coalition of faith groups.

Over the past few years, Justice Matters leadership has been pushing for the county to undergo studies by the Vera Institute of Justice prior to expanding the Douglas County Jail to lessen overcrowding. The plan to expand the jail was approved in January, then rescinded in September after the coronavirus pandemic hit and the average daily population of the jail dropped by about 100 inmates through various efforts to release people who didn’t pose a threat to public safety.

The Vera Institute would study why and how long people are incarcerated to help get a “robust and complete picture” of what’s driving the overpopulation at the jail, as the Journal-World has reported. The biggest roadblock, sheriff’s office leaders have said, was providing the extensive amount of data needed to complete the study.

Joanna Harader and Kirsten Kuhn, of Justice Matters’ committee on jail alternatives, led a discussion on criminal justice reform during the meeting Monday, asking Valdez and Armbrister to address the issue.

Armbrister said he has “always been very open” to the Vera study. He said that there were some unique logistical characteristics to the sheriff’s office’s information system that would create some roadblocks and hurdles. But he said he thought it would work out, and it’s just going to take time.

Harader said that based on her talks with Vera staff, she thought the group had worked with a variety of information systems and that together with the sheriff’s office, they’ll be able to find a way to make it work.

Valdez said the proposed study fit well with her efforts to try to ensure there is accountability and transparency from her office, and that she would share data for the study once she is sworn in; for now, though, she does not have access to that information.

Both candidates also restated their commitment to criminal justice reforms. They’re both taking over from longtime incumbents who were first elected in 2004, as the Journal-World has reported.

“We are going to be very much focused on alternative programs,” Valdez said. “That’s something I promised in my campaign.”

Specifically, Valdez said she wanted to focus on restorative justice and robust diversion and pretrial release programs to keep people out of jail — “especially low-level, nonviolent offenders,” she said.

“We have an opportunity to stop the system in its tracks and start it all over in a new direction,” Armbrister said, noting that he and Valdez have talked about examining “every bit and piece of the system” to see if it’s working in everyone’s best interest.

Neither Valdez nor Armbrister faces an opponent in the Nov. 3 general election.

More 2020 election coverage: Douglas County district attorney race

• July 29, 2020: FAQs and fact-checks in the race for Douglas County district attorney

• July 28, 2020: Campaign finance reports: Incumbent leads fundraising in district attorney race; captain raises most money in race for sheriff

• July 23, 2020: Douglas County district attorney candidates answer colleagues’ questions, address experience in bar forum

• July 19, 2020: 2020 Primary Voters Guide: Meet the candidates for Douglas County district attorney

• July 11, 2020: In NAACP forum, candidates for Douglas County district attorney share laws they want to see changed

• July 9, 2020: Candidates for Douglas County district attorney address racial disparities, anti-Blackness

• July 8, 2020: Douglas County sheriff, district attorney candidate forums to focus on issues specific to people of color, LGBTQ+ communities

• June 23, 2020: Candidates for Douglas County district attorney trade barbs in Democratic party forum

• June 22, 2020: Douglas County district attorney candidates share views on law enforcement misconduct, needed changes

• May 1, 2020: Incumbent Douglas County district attorney: Experience, leadership are needed to create change

• April 28, 2020: District Attorney Charles Branson files for reelection in 2020

• April 21, 2020: KU law professor, prosecutor Valdez: Douglas County district attorney’s office lacks leadership, clear policies

• April 20, 2020: Lawrence defense attorney Overstreet: Fairness, transparency missing from Douglas County criminal justice system

• April 16, 2020: Two Democrats file to run for Douglas County district attorney

More 2020 election coverage: Douglas County sheriff race

• Oct. 19, 2020: External investigation finds that Douglas County sheriff-elect violated department policy but not the law

• Aug. 20, 2020: Presumed next Douglas County sheriff named in complaint that’s under investigation by an outside agency

• Aug. 4, 2020: Lieutenant wins in Douglas County sheriff primary

• July 30, 2020: Douglas County sheriff candidates address budget experience, release of records and more

• July 28, 2020: Campaign finance reports: Incumbent leads fundraising in district attorney race; captain raises most money in race for sheriff

• July 22, 2020: In forum, candidates for Douglas County sheriff, undersheriff address violence against Indigenous women, sexual harassment

• July 19, 2020: 2020 Primary Voters Guide: Meet the candidates for Douglas County sheriff

• July 18, 2020: In NAACP forum, Douglas County sheriff candidates give thoughts on drug activity, white supremacists, body cameras

• July 10, 2020: In forum, candidates for Douglas County sheriff address systemic racism, issues affecting transgender people

• June 18, 2020: Douglas County sheriff candidates voice range of opinions on jail expansion, including opposition

• June 12, 2020: Douglas County Sheriff Ken McGovern to retire early; he says ‘it’s been fun for 39 years’

• June 8, 2020: Douglas County sheriff candidates share views on public transparency, training against bias-based policing

• May 29, 2020: Douglas County undersheriff withdraws from race for sheriff

• April 21, 2020: Captain files to run for Douglas County Sheriff in 2020 election

• Jan. 30, 2020: Douglas County Sheriff’s Office veteran files to run for office’s top job in 2020

• Jan. 17, 2020: Undersheriff files to run for Douglas County sheriff in 2020 election

• June 12, 2019: Douglas County sheriff won’t seek another term, plans to retire in 2020

• Oct. 16, 2018: Lieutenant files to run for Douglas County sheriff in 2020