Publications

The Utah Prison Projection Project (UPPP) is a collaborative effort between the Utah Department of Corrections (UDC) and the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice (CCJJ). This initiative aims to develop a Utah-specific prison population forecasting tool to support criminal justice resource planning and analyze the impact of new legislation and policy on prison populations.

Background Similar to other states, recidivism continues to be a central measure in Utah’s criminal justice system. This site shows trends in 3-year recidivism rates for individuals that served time in prison on a leading felony weapon offense that were released on parole between 2014 and 2018. Four types of recidivism rates are included: 1) any return to prison 2) a return based on one

Overview: Since the early 2000’s, 40 US states have passed criminal justice reform legislation, often formally called the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI). These reforms, while varying by state, aim to improve system performance while controlling costs. Research Question: Critics of justice reform initiatives often argue that the “softer” policies in these reforms may negatively impact public safety, with recent concerns

Overview: Introduced in December of 2019, the Davis County jail diversion program aims to provide an alternative to traditional arrest or citation for adults who have engaged in certain lower-level drug crimes and misdemeanor offenses. Instead of traditional paths, the program allows referral to appropriate treatment services to avoid the stigmatizing and often costly criminal justice track. Critics of jail