SenateSenate joint
resolutionjoint resolution NO. 33
By Request of the Law and Justice Interim
CommitteeLaw and Justice Interim Committee
A joint resolution of
the Senate and the House of Representatives of the state of montana supporting
the justice counts metrics.
WHEREAS,
Justice Counts is an initiative led by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office
of Justice Programs' Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Council of State
Governments Justice Center, and more than 21 partners to develop and help
implement consensus-driven metrics for criminal justice agencies; and
WHEREAS, the consensus-driven Justice Counts
metrics are developed in partnership with a wide range of experts across the
criminal justice system; and
WHEREAS, the Law and Justice Interim Committee
studied the collection, improvement, and integration of criminal justice system
data during the 2021-2022 interim; and
WHEREAS, Montana state and local policymakers are
often forced to make critical decisions about the safety of their communities
and constituents using limited or stale criminal justice data; and
WHEREAS, the Montana Legislature wants to work in
conjunction with state and local partners to improve data collection, including
the specific consensus-driven metrics proposed in the Justice Counts initiative;
and
WHEREAS, improvements in criminal justice system
data collection and dissemination will help Montana policymakers change the
current reactionary nature of our criminal justice system to achieve better
results by enabling more analysis; and
WHEREAS, better results include cost savings for
the State of Montana and our local governments and better outcomes for offenders,
crime victims, and their families; and
WHEREAS, Justice Counts would help us improve
access for our criminal justice system leaders and the public to consistent,
timely, and accurate data across the criminal justice system.
Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Senate
and the House of Representatives OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
That the Montana Legislature supports the Justice Counts metrics and urges policymakers throughout the
state and local government entities to implement and utilize the metrics and to
commit to making the latest criminal justice data available.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that
the Secretary of State send a copy of this resolution to the Governor, the members
of the Montana Supreme Court, each District Court Judge, the Montana Attorney
General, and the Bureau of Justice Assistance in the United States Justice
Department.
INTRODUCED
BY