(DES MOINES) – Gov. Terry E. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds announced today that the Governor’s Working Group on Criminal Justice Policy Reform has submitted its final strategy proposals related to four specific areas of criminal justice policy.
Those areas include mental health & drug courts, the jury pool selection process, juvenile delinquency records and prison and jail phone rate fees.
This working group was announced on August 28th during the Iowa Summit on Justice and Disparities hosted by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The members were chosen from a diverse bi-partisan group of agencies and organizations. The group conducted its first public meeting on Thursday, Sept. 24th, and has held 3 additional meetings since on September 30th, October 15th, and October 29th.
“This working group came together in a relatively short amount of time, and addressed some very big issues in Iowa’s Criminal Justice System,” said Branstad. “I thank every member of the group for their ideas, dedication and time spent on this important effort and look forward to reviewing the recommendations proposed. We should and will continue to pursue every opportunity we can to ensure that our criminal justice system is fair and equitable.”
At each meeting, the working group would identify issues related to criminal justice policy and discuss possible solutions with experts, the general public, and other stakeholders. Members of the audience also had the opportunity to ask the speakers and working group members’ questions as well as provide comments to the group.
Lt. Governor Reynolds commented, “The working group’s recommendation for government and stakeholders to continue to research, discuss, and find solutions to criminal justice disparity issues in Iowa is a thoughtful and admirable approach and I appreciate their work.”
The group hopes that one way this type of work can continue is through the Public Safety Advisory Board. This board was created by the legislature to analyze, research, and provide data and recommendations to the General Assembly to improve the criminal justice system.
The group has submitted its final strategy recommendations to the four specific policy areas that Gov. Branstad asked the group to consider. The full content of the strategy proposals, as well as all additional materials submitted to the working group during the public meetings is available at: http://comment.iowa.gov.
