NCJ Number
171233
Journal
Corrections Management Quarterly Volume: 1 Issue: 3 Dated: (Summer 1997) Pages: 60-64
Date Published
1997
Length
5 pages
Annotation
The major problem that continues to plague jail managers is their failure to promote jail issues as county-level problems and their failure to gain continued commitment from county administrators in addressing jail problems; the Thurston County Law and Justice Plan (Washington State) is a demonstration model of a process that addresses these problems.
Abstract
The Law and Justice Plan was created through the coordination and cooperation of all the relevant county and State agencies and local governments in Thurston County. The Law and Justice Council identified not only jail or corrections problems, but systemwide criminal justice solutions to problems to be implemented that required intergovernmental coordination. The Law and Justice Plan is an action agenda for short-term and long-term strategies. It includes combining detention facilities and coordinating correctional programming. Thurston County is currently implementing a Jail Management Plan that includes creation of a regional corrections system, implementing a jail population management committee composed of criminal justice policymakers systemwide, implementing an offender risk and needs assessment and classification system, and developing plans to construct a minimum-security facility. It is also developing arrest standards for county law enforcement, enhancing existing pretrial and probation services to include additional community monitoring and habilitative services, and creating a day reporting center.