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Rock County moves EBDM work under Criminal Justice Coordinating Council after multi-year reform effort
Summary
County board heard a multi-agency report on the Evidence Based Decision Making initiative — covering pretrial screening, deferred prosecution, behavioral health information sharing and co-responder teams — and voted to dissolve the EBDM policy team and continue the work under the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council.
Rock County supervisors voted to dissolve the county's Evidence Based Decision Making (EBDM) policy team on March 13 after a presentation on the initiative's work to expand pretrial services, diversion and information-sharing between behavioral-health providers and law enforcement.
The county's Justice System Strategist, Elizabeth Pullman McQuillan, told the board the EBDM program began with technical assistance from the National Institute of Corrections and moved from planning into implementation, producing six change targets including pretrial assessment, diversion and behavioral information sharing.
The initiative matters because it reshapes how the local justice system handles people before trial and redirects some decisions from cash bail to risk-based assessment and supervised release. "Decisions are enhanced when informed by evidence-based knowledge," Pullman McQuillan said, describing the program's guiding principles.
Judge Carl Hansen, who chairs the pretrial work group, detailed the pretrial program Rock County adopted: a nationally tested actuarial risk-assessment tool used by commissioners and judges and a locally funded pretrial supervision contract with JusticePoint. Hansen described the program's goals as reducing short-term harms of pretrial incarceration while ensuring court appearance and public safety. He cited an appearance rate near 90 percent for individuals on pretrial supervision and a safety rate around 84 percent, and said electronic monitoring slots (GPS and SCRAM alcohol monitoring) have been expanded to provide targeted supervision.
Heather Korth, program supervisor for the Deferred Prosecution Office, reviewed diversion and enhanced deferred-prosecution programs. She said diversion is a one-time education session for low-risk individuals that can result in dismissal of charges, while the deferred prosecution program serves low-to-medium risk defendants with individualized case plans lasting six to 12 months. Korth reported steady growth in screening: an average of 25 individuals per quarter in 2022, 78 in 2023 and 109 in 2024, with 955 people screened through Sept. 30, 2024.
Kate Lester, Rock County Human Services director, described the Behavioral Health Information Sharing work group's two primary products: a voluntary "mental health flag" uploaded to law-enforcement records (Spillman) to give officers a heads-up that a person has a history of mental illness, and a client-consent Individual Crisis Strategy (CSIS) that includes crisis contacts and suggested responses. She said those tools, plus co-responder crisis-worker positions embedded with Janesville Police Department and expanded to Beloit Police and the Sheriff's Office, aim to improve outcomes for people with mental health needs and reduce unnecessary jail stays or hospitalizations.
Pullman McQuillan told the board the EBDM policy team has completed its formal duties and the work groups will continue under the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC). "We don't need two committees," she said; the CJCC will continue regular oversight and reporting.
Supervisors asked for follow-up data on recidivism for diversion participants and on violent offenses committed by individuals on pretrial supervision; presenters said deeper recidivism analysis is part of the next steps and that judges must balance limited predictive certainty with available data when setting conditions. Hansen said the risk tool is actuarial and objective, and that adding supervision and monitoring aims to reduce costly pretrial jail days while maintaining public safety.
The board then approved a resolution formally dissolving the EBDM policy team and moving ongoing work to the CJCC. The motion to dissolve was moved by Supervisor Woodman and seconded by Supervisor Wilson; the board approved the dissolution without recorded opposition.
The presentation and vote mark a formal shift in governance of Rock County's justice-reform efforts while keeping the reforms and programs in place under an existing, standing criminal-justice advisory body.
