A north-central Idaho lawmaker seeks to centralize the state’s criminal data.
Genesee Representative Carolyn Nilsson Troy this week introduced the Criminal Justice integrated Data System Act before the House Judiciary Committee.
Under the bill, the State Controller’s office would create a system to link data across Idaho’s criminal justice entities in an effort to better understand the effectiveness of the state’s systems. The measure has been crafted over the past several years by the Idaho Criminal Justice Commission to change Idaho’s standing as one of seven states that still does not have a centralized criminal justice data system.
Commission officials say different criminal justice agencies such as the Idaho Department of Correction and the Department of Juvenile Correction have a significant amount of data about those who are coming in and out of their facilities, but that information is essentially stuck in each individual agency.
By being able to access that data in one location, criminal justice agencies could determine to what extent current programs are effective. Government agencies could request reports based on the data, and any reports generated through the system would be available through public information requests.
The legislation would also create a Data Oversight Council made up of officials throughout Idaho’s criminal justice system and government. (EastIdahoNews.com)
