Corrections seeks ongoing funding for Recidiviz tools and inmate transparency platforms

The Idaho Department of Correction on Feb. 4 asked the Legislature to fund continued use and expansion of a case-management platform, digital legal-access tools for people in custody and other Management Services items during a budget presentation to the Joint Finance Preparations Committee.

Budget analyst Noah Peterson, budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, told the committee the Management Services Division is requesting various ongoing and one-time appropriations tied to software, training and staffing that support administration, facilities and inmate placement work.

The request includes continued funding for the department’s partnership with Recidiviz, a nonprofit technology partner that the department says aggregates data from multiple legacy systems. "It's probably the most transformative partnership we've entered into as an agency in my entire tenure there," said Josh Tewalt, director for the Idaho Department of Correction, describing Recidiviz’s role in creating case-triage tools and officer-level outcome dashboards. Noah Peterson said Recidiviz previously provided services to IDOC in fiscal years 2021 and 2023 that totaled about $1.5 million, largely from federal funds; the department is now seeking ongoing general-fund support to maintain and expand work in prison case management.

Separately, the department seeks $668,100 total for "transparency software" that Peterson said would cover inmate access to court materials and tools for staff to manage public-records and subpoena responses. Peterson and Tewalt described the package as separate line items: GovQA for public records (listed as ongoing), Power Apps licenses for internal reporting, LexisNexis subscriptions to provide legal materials to people in custody (Peterson cited $69,700 ongoing for LexisNexis), and an access-to-courts database (ATC) implementation that carries both ongoing and one-time costs.

The Management Services presentation also listed $77,400 one-time for training mannequins and a light-duty vehicle for the Meridian training center, and included a proposal for a one-time $85,000 appropriation to pilot a special assistant U.S. attorney position focused on drug trafficking in North Idaho (the governor’s recommendation included that pilot).

Committee members pressed for performance data and procurement comparisons. Senator Cook asked whether Recidiviz has measurable return on investment; Peterson said he did not have hard data at the hearing and offered to obtain it. Representative Tanner and others asked for dashboards and examples of the outputs the platform produces; Director Tewalt said the department would provide regular dashboards and cautioned about using officer-level comparisons without context. Tewalt also emphasized data control and privacy arrangements with the nonprofit, saying the state retains control of its data and that Recidiviz matches philanthropic funds against each public dollar spent.

The director and staff said some of the requested items already had prior one-time federal support and that the department is asking the committee to consider continuing or converting certain services to ongoing funding. Noah Peterson said the governor recommended many of the items in the Management Services package.

The committee did not take a vote on any of these items at the hearing; requests will be considered as part of the committee’s budget process.

The department agreed to provide the committee with Recidiviz dashboards, usage statistics and any available outcome or ROI measures for prior and proposed funding.