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CCJJ touts public-safety data portal and details jail-reimbursement formula; warns of grant pressures
Summary
Tom Ross and Ken Matthews of the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice told the subcommittee CCJJ connects most criminal-justice agencies to a data portal (81.9% connected, 3.4 billion rows) and explained the jail-reimbursement calculation that produced a $19.06M need for FY27, leaving a request of about $7.2M after a $11.7M base.
Tom Ross, director of the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice (CCJJ), described CCJJ’s expanding role overseeing commissions, grant administration and data research. Ross said CCJJ now has 11 divisions, administers grant programs (about $37M statewide) and is leading a multi-year data project that makes criminal-justice data available to policymakers on a 24-hour cadence.
"When you think that where we are today...81.9% of all of our criminal justice agencies, local and state, are connected into 1 database here at CCJJ," Ross said, noting automated submissions and a current store of over 3.4 billion rows of data.
Ken Matthews (deputy director) summarized CCJJ’s FY27 jail-reimbursement math: Utah code requires state reimbursement for local jails holding felony offenders as a condition of probation; CCJJ’s formula uses days reported multiplied by 50% of the state daily rate published by corrections, producing a total of $19,062,350. With a current base appropriation near $11.7 million, Matthews said CCJJ is requesting approximately $7.2 million for the coming year.
Committee members asked whether federal grants carry restrictive conditions and how jail-reimbursement shifts affect counties. Ross said most federal grants administered by CCJJ have flexible allowable use, and he emphasized that clear definition of the state’s jail-reimbursement obligations reduces annual friction with local sheriffs. Ross also previewed a forthcoming agency-restructure bill he said will move CCJJ into a modern agency structure, noting the governor’s office expects CCJJ to absorb about $750,000 of associated transition costs.
