Idaho corrections seeks ongoing funds for data tools, transparency software

The Idaho Department of Correction requested ongoing general-fund support for a suite of data and transparency tools at a Feb. 4 Joint Finance Preparations Committee hearing in Boise. Director Josh Tewalt and Legislative Office analyst Noah Peterson described continuing investments in Recidiviz case-management work and subscriptions that provide inmates digital access to court information and staff tools for public-records management.

The request covers recurring costs for a Recidiviz partnership and several software subscriptions that the agency says automate administrative work, surface outcomes and provide inmates access to court materials. "It's probably the most transformative partnership we've entered into as an agency in my entire tenure there," Director Josh Tewalt said of the Recidiviz relationship, which the agency has used to build case triage tools for probation and parole and now wants to adapt for prison case managers.

Committee analyst Noah Peterson summarized the management-services enhancement requests. The agency asked for funding for recidivism case-management tools (continuing work with Recidiviz, which provided prior one-time appropriations in fiscal years 2021 and 2023 totaling about $1.5 million from federal funds), $668,100 for transparency software (about $611,000 ongoing and $57,000 one time) to cover inmate access to court documents and law books and to help staff manage public-records and subpoena responses, and $250,000 ongoing for continued customization of the Atlas offender-management system. Peterson also identified line items shown in the budget packet for GovQA (public-records software), LexisNexis subscriptions (court access), and an ATC access-to-courts database (described as part digital case law access, part process-help for filings).

Lawmakers asked about measurable return on investment. Senator Cook pressed for hard data showing whether prior one-time funding yielded measurable reductions in recidivism or staff time saved; Peterson said he did not have hard data on hand and offered to work with the agency to provide metrics. Director Tewalt described how Recidiviz aggregates disparate legacy data and automates case-manager tasks, produces officer-level outcome dashboards and is matched by philanthropic funding: "every penny we spend is leveraged against private philanthropic dollars," he said, describing a private match model that augments state dollars.

Representative Tanner and others asked for committee-facing dashboards and more information on data governance. Tewalt said the department retains control of its data under data-sharing agreements with Recidiviz and that the vendor pulls data from state systems rather than recreating or altering original records. He also said the partnership allows Idaho to compare outcomes anonymously with other participating jurisdictions. Tewalt and Peterson offered to provide usage dashboards and additional documentation on the data-sharing and matching arrangements.

The agency presented the subscription and software items to the governor, who recommended the listed transparency and Atlas items. Committee members asked for follow-up documentation about outcomes, the philanthropic matching structure, and vendor comparisons. Director Tewalt said he did not think Recidiviz had a direct competitor that provides comparable, low-friction data integration and staff-focused overlays, but he offered to provide additional procurement information to the committee.

Looking ahead, lawmakers requested written follow-ups on measurable outcomes, vendor comparisons and the details of the philanthropic match for Recidiviz contributions. The budget materials and the agency slides were placed on the legislature's SharePoint for committee review.