NACo, CSG Justice Center Partner to Support County Criminal Justice Efforts

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State and county leaders depend on each other to make the criminal justice system work. That’s why we are writing jointly, highlighting new efforts our two organizations, the National Association of Counties (NACo) and the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, are undertaking together.

State officials write the criminal code, decide when prison beds are available for those sentenced to prison, and determine when and how someone will be released to the community. But only a small fraction of people charged with a crime ever become the responsibility of a state department of corrections. It’s in county courts and jails where people charged with crimes are processed. More than 220,000 adults are booked into local jails each week in the United States. (State prisons, by comparison, admit just over 10,000 adults each week.) County administrators see as much as 20–50 percent of their budget funneled to the justice system, far exceeding the share of the state budget dedicated to criminal justice. Who holds the upper hand in this complex relationship? That’s a moot question. The fact is county and state leaders need one another, and no one disagrees that more can be done to support local officials faced with bulging dockets, overwhelmed treatment services, and antiquated jail facilities and management information systems.