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Presentations
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2006 Tennessee Criminal Justice Summit |
Presentations
It has long been recognized that our criminal justice system is in need of review. The State of Tennessee has experienced continued growth in all the divisions of the criminal justice system. The courts are overflowing with criminal cases and the probation system has more than 45,000 offenders on probation and 6,500 in community correction programs. Our jails are overrun with misdemeanants, those awaiting trial, those convicted and awaiting transfer to the Department of Correction or those felons being held locally through contract with the department. The Department of Correction has more than 19,000 inmates in 15 prisons and there are more than 8,000 offenders on parole under the supervision of the Board of Probation and Parole. In addition, the juvenile system has more than 6,000 offenders in varying types of community supervision. More than 600 juveniles are confined in secure juvenile institutions and approximately 70 youthful offenders housed in community group home settings throughout the state. And many of these adults and youths are served by other systems such as mental health, substance abuse treatment and social services.
These numbers are staggering and the costs to the state as well as local governments are a tremendous concern. The state and local budgets are strained due to judicial costs, confinement and supervision costs. Unfortunately, these costs encroach upon funds that could be used to provide necessary and essential services to families and children. These include education, health care and, most of all, prevention. Therefore, the need to develop a plan to change our approach to the criminal justice system is urgent.
The Department of Correction began to seek solutions by hosting the 2004 Criminal Justice Summit. During that forum, plans were discussed and proposed, many of which were confined to those offenders within the prison system.
In the Summer of 2006, the Department of Correction and the Board of Probation and Parole initiated the 2006 Criminal Justice Summit with regional sessions held in Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville. These brought together a cross-section of more than 200 professionals involved in the criminal justice system. Participants were charged not only with identifying the problems of the current system, but also with identifying strategies to bring about a shared vision for the future.
The purpose of the 2006 Summit was to chart a future course for criminal justice in Tennessee by:
- Building on the accomplishments of the 2004 Summit
- Providing a forum for broad participation and input into the development of a shared, statewide vision of criminal justice and corrections in Tennessee
- Identifying strategies for ongoing criminal justice partnership and collaboration statewide, regionally, and locally
- Learning about effective strategies to reduce recidivism that are being implemented throughout the nation and their relevance to Tennessee
- Articulating some of the critical next steps necessary to achieve a vision of success for criminal justice in Tennessee.
In November of 2006, the final segment of the Criminal Justice Summit was held. This segment brought together criminal justice professionals and other community leaders who finalized the recommendations for the state's future in criminal justice.
Funding for the 2006 Criminal Justice Summit was received from the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant and technical assistance was provided by the National Institute of Corrections.
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