Criminal Justice Coordinating Council adopts three-year strategic plan, sets data and communications priorities

Katie Fitzgerald, criminal justice coordinator for Douglas County, presented the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council's (CJCC) 2025—27 strategic plan to the Board of Douglas County Commissioners on April 2. The plan sets four priorities: enhancing system data metrics, assessing and strengthening the pretrial phase, expanding criminal-justice program options and developing a strategic communications plan.

The CJCC developed the plan with consultants from the Justice Management Institute (JMI) after six discipline-specific focus groups, an online survey with 96 respondents and analysis of system-level operational data. Fitzgerald said JMI produced a 75-page briefing and the council held a 1—2-day planning retreat to identify priorities. "We started this process with Christie and Amy from JMI," Fitzgerald said, noting the consultant role in guiding the timeline.

The nut graf: the council intends to use better data and clearer communications to guide decisions across law enforcement, courts and behavioral-health partners, and to make information available to the public. Fitzgerald told commissioners the CJCC's bylaws call for an annual report to the commission and said the first annual report under the new plan is scheduled for June 2026. Commissioners asked for an interim written update in the fall; Commissioner Rolley and Commissioner Reid both said a shorter progress report this year would be useful.

Discussion with commissioners focused heavily on the data priority. The planning process identified the need for a standing data committee, data-sharing agreements and data dictionaries so measures can be produced consistently across agencies. "We are developing data-sharing agreements," Fitzgerald said. "Developing at minimum quarterly reports is kind of our goal, of system measures." She also said the CJCC aims to move beyond single-point snapshots to cross-system measures that follow a case from initial contact through resolution or supervision.

Members of the CJCC and consulting team who were introduced at the meeting include Jessica Glendening (chief defender and CJCC chair for 2025), Patrick Schmitz (CEO, Bert Nash Center), Susan Binkleman (chief court services officer), Brad Finkeldei (city representative) and JMI consultants Christy Danford and Amy Wickman.

Public commenters supported the plan and asked that datasets be made available as the CJCC develops measures. One commenter, identified in the record as John, said he appreciated the measurable objectives and urged the county to publish system metrics. A resident identified as Ellen asked specifically whether the CJCC will make datasets available; Fitzgerald said data-sharing agreements and a public rollout plan are among the first tasks for the data committee.

Fitzgerald said the CJCC will post plan documents and related materials on the CJCC web page and requested feedback on how often the commission wants updates. Commissioners suggested the communications work group coordinate with the commission so staff and elected officials know when and how to use CJCC-produced data and messaging.

The CJCC's priorities and process materials are available on the CJCC section of the county website; Fitzgerald indicated more frequent, intermediate reports will be provided in addition to the June 2026 annual report.

Ending: the CJCC will begin forming the standing committees (data, communications and programming) and expects to return with interim information later this year and the first annual report in June 2026.