County Leader’s Guide to Building and Sustaining Justice Innovation

Counties play a pivotal role in shaping public safety nationwide, investing nearly $124 billion annually in courts, jails, law enforcement and legal services. As the primary stewards of local justice systems, county leaders are uniquely positioned to drive meaningful innovation — enhancing public safety, improving community outcomes and optimizing resource allocation.

County leaders recognize that innovation does not end after the introduction of a promising practice. Sustaining innovation requires ongoing commitment, strategic planning and collaboration. The County Leader's Guide to Building and Sustaining Justice Innovation is designed to empower county elected officials and local justice system leaders with tools and strategies to ensure lasting, positive change in local criminal legal systems.

Sustaining justice system innovation requires more than the initial buy-in from local leadership and system partners; it relies on champions who remain actively engaged. Champions are individuals who will continue to promote, embed and navigate the new practices in a long-term capacity. As public safety is a highly-localized endeavor — requiring local innovation and systems change — people embedded in the community make the best champions. Champions can be elected officials, community leaders or justice system professionals. Champions ensure new practices survive temporary challenges and unforeseen adversity, preventing the premature dismantling of potential innovation.

Key Strategies

Mapping existing leadership and influence networks

Begin by assessing current leadership structures and important system partners within the county. This may include elected officials, department heads, community leaders and justice system professionals. Understanding these networks enables county leaders to strategically engage partners, foster collaboration and incorporate a range of perspectives.

Engaging champions early in planning and implementation

Involve identified champions from the initial stages of any new initiative. When engaged early, champions can help shape program goals, facilitate buy-in from other key partners and ensure seamless implementation. This will then set the stage for long-term sustainability.

Providing platforms for champions to share successes and lessons learned

Create opportunities for champions to highlight achievements and discuss challenges publicly. County leaders can host public forums or community meetings or work with local media to amplify champions’ messages. Transparency and consistent communication can foster better public understanding of new initiatives.

Spotlight: Dane County, Wis.

In 2008, the Dane County Board of Supervisors created the Dane County Community Justice Council (CJC). The CJC is composed of system champions, including the Presiding Judge, Sheriff, District Attorney, Clerk of Courts, County Executive and County Board Chair, as well as partners from law enforcement, municipal judiciary, corrections and the community. The CJC provides an ongoing forum for collaboration and coordination among system partners and promotes the implementation of effective and efficient data-driven policies and practices.

NACo Resource

Criminal Justice Coordinating Councils (CJCC) Resource Hub

NACo's Criminal Justice Coordinating Council Resource Hub provides valuable information for counties working toward developing their own CJCC or to strengthen an existing CJCC.

External Resource

What It Takes to Change the Way America Thinks About and Uses Jails

This Safety and Justice Challenge report examines essential skills for leaders including being open to new perspectives, resilience, coalition building and insights about what it takes to make change happen.

External Resource

The Role of Community in Criminal Justice Reform

This Justice Reform Foundation article discusses the theoretical and practical aspects of community involvement, shares examples and provides a guide on community participation.

External Resource

Community Advisory Boards: What Works and What Doesn’t

This Policing Project report overviews findings from a national study on Community Advisory Boards (CABs) and provides practice guidance on establishing and operating CABs.

External Resource

Creating and Maintaining Coalitions and Partnerships

This Community Tool Box tool kit provides guidance for establishing meaningful partnerships to address a common goal.

Collaboration is a key element of local justice system innovation. County leaders are well positioned to be conveners of cross-sector partnerships that bolster unified innovation implementation. County jurisdictions can geographically span across multiple municipalities, cities or towns, all of which often utilize county correctional facilities or courts. Establishing formalized partnerships between county government, justice system partners and community members is one approach to ensure system change is a sustainable effort.

Formalized partnerships promote sustainability because they are less susceptible to disruptions caused by personnel shifts, such as staff turnover, new elected officials or community changes. While interpersonal trust can be a powerful catalyst for collaboration, informal agreements alone can make a program susceptible to turnover and the loss of institutional memory when key personnel transition out of their roles. Using written agreements, open feedback loops and system transparency, partnerships are more resilient to individual change.

Key Strategies

Formalizing roles and responsibilities through memorandum of understanding (MOUs) or governance structures

Written agreements institutionalize accountability by clearly defining expectations and shared responsibilities. Establishing a regular review cycle (e.g., annually) for MOUs ensures the partnership remains responsive to evolving community needs or shifting budget priorities.

Creating feedback loops between justice agencies, other county agencies and community organizations

Establishing reciprocal feedback loops facilitates a consistent flow of information between justice agencies, county departments and community partners. This bidirectional exchange allows the partnership to move beyond standard data reporting and instead engage in collaborative problem solving. For example, conducting periodic “after-action reviews” provides a structured space for partners to evaluate what is working well and where resources can be reallocated to optimize outcomes.

Using data-sharing agreements to align efforts and track progress

A common barrier to cross-system collaboration is data siloing, or the separation of each partners’ data. Formalized data-sharing agreements can promote partner access and use of data. This directly breaks down barriers that can prevent data from being used throughout the county.

County Spotlight: Fulton County, Ga.

Fulton County is the lead agency on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that facilitates information sharing to connect people with behavioral health needs to care and divert them from the criminal legal system when appropriate. All participating agencies that fall under the Fulton County or Atlanta city government are covered within the MOU. To see the MOU between Fulton County and Grady Memorial Hospital Corporation visit here.

Data is a critical component for sustaining justice system innovations. Systematically collecting and analyzing data allows local leaders to measure impact, identify disparities and inform policy decisions. Data can be used to evaluate practice and program outcomes, allowing county leaders to determine whether invested resources are achieving the desired level of impact to sustain investment. 

Key Strategies

Conducting audits and system mapping

Using data, county leaders can evaluate outcomes at key decision points of the criminal legal system. For example, analyzing participation rates in diversion programs across different neighborhoods can identify areas where residents may lack awareness or access to these resources. This information supports data-driven adjustments that foster more consistent results for the entire community.

Tracking performance metrics across the system and using dashboards to visualize progress

Capturing and communicating data is essential for informed decision making. Consistent data collection allows for an analysis of outcomes over time. It is also important to properly share the findings with county leaders, system partners and community members. Tools for data visualization can bridge the gap between analysis and decision making.

Building integrated data systems across justice, health and human services to support coordinated responses

Modernizing data architecture to link these sectors provides a holistic view of individuals who frequently interact with county systems. By creating a secure platform for cross-system information sharing, partners can better coordinate resources and respond more effectively to complex community needs. County leadership can partner with the Chief Information Officer to build this shared infrastructure, fostering a culture of data-driven cooperation across all departments. 
 

County Spotlight: Arapahoe County, Colo.

The Arapahoe County Justice Coordinating Committee (JCC) leverages state and local data to inform system decisions. The JCC collects and analyzes local system data to evaluate For example, the JCC reviewed data on youth diversion programs and found race-based disparities driven by access to diversion programs in different municipalities in the county. Responding to this data, the City of Aurora established its own diversion program to increase parity across the county.

County governments operate under balanced budget requirements, which often limits the number of financial resources available to test new and promising practices. Consequently, many jurisdictions utilize one-time funding resources, like grants, to pilot these innovations. However, sustaining these efforts beyond the initial pilot phase requires proactive financial planning to transform temporary projects into permanent system improvements. By developing a broad budget strategy early in the process (i.e., when securing an initial grant), counties can safeguard successful programs and uphold fiscal transparency in the allocation of public resources.

Key Strategies

Braiding funding streams across departments (e.g., public health, housing, justice)

Coordination of budgets across departments can help maximize resources, reduce duplication and identify opportunities for streamlined or combined funding. This strategy helps counties address complex challenges by pooling funds for shared priorities.

Leveraging philanthropic partnerships and community foundations

Strategic partnerships with local and national foundations can provide flexible funding to supplement county resources and support innovative approaches. While national organizations attract greater attention, they generally have a larger applicant pool. Many local foundations serve specific communities or regions and are open to building and investing in partnerships.  

Identifying opportunities for cost avoidance

Local leaders may leverage innovative legal system practices to reduce overall system costs. For example, diversion programs that reduce jail bed days can present larger fiscal savings than the programming itself. 

Using data metrics to justify continued investment

Tracking and reporting outcomes can provide evidence for ongoing funding. Transparent use of data helps build trust with system partners and can inform resource allocation decisions.

County Spotlight: Bexar County, Texas

In 2020, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office launched Bexar Gives Back, a diversion program that steers individuals charged with a low-level offense away from jail, avoiding the cost associated with incarceration. The program allows participating judges to sentence individuals charged with nonviolent misdemeanor offenses to supervised community service instead of jail time. The program has saved the county an estimated $2.2 million, a figure that combines the avoided cost of jail days — estimated at $80 to $100 per individual per day — with the value of community service hours, calculated at $15 to $20 an hour for work such as landscaping and cleanup.

Following the successful pilot phase of an innovative program or practice, county leaders can take steps to institutionalize it as part of county operations. This can be done through policy or administrative changes, budgetary allocations or formal agreements. Embedding innovation into county operations ensures long-term sustainability by making the changes resilient to leadership turnover and budget fluctuations.

Key Strategies

Institutionalizing innovations through policy changes and dedicated funding

County leaders can improve the long-term sustainability of innovative practices by formally adopting them through new local policy and allocating general funds or similar dedicated funding to the program. 

Embedding innovations in strategic plans

Counties often leverage strategic plans to guide policy objectives and resource allocations over a period of time. Including new innovations in strategic planning promotes their continual consideration.

Creating or strengthening governance bodies like Criminal Justice Coordinating Councils (CJCCs)

CJCCs provide a mechanism for formalized, collaborative partnerships across system and community partners.

Celebrating early wins to build momentum and public support

County leaders and champions can foster positive sentiment and trust by documenting and messaging successful innovations early and often.

County Spotlight: Jefferson County, Ala.

In 2021, the Jefferson County District Attorney leveraged grant funding from a community foundation to launch a pilot diversion program, Reset Jefferson County. Reset was modeled after a successful program by the Center for Court Innovations in New York. Program participants avoid a criminal record and the court process by completing community-based program requirements. Following initial success of the pilot, the District Attorney’s Office has continued to pursue funding for the program– in 2024, the county received an $800,000 grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to support and grow the program. Additionally, the District Attorney has adopted Reset as a formal policy.