The National Association of Counties and the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) convened a meeting in April 2017 of teams from Indiana and Wisconsin, two states participating in NIC’s Evidence-Based Decision Making (EBDM) Initiative. EBDM practices seek to equip local and state policy makers with information, processes and tools that will result in measurable reductions of pretrial misconduct, post-conviction reoffending and other forms of community harm resulting from crime. The foundation of this Initiative is that local and state policymakers and criminal justice staff work together collaboratively to identify issues and opportunities and to develop solutions that work at both levels of government. This report details core elements that led to success in Indiana and Wisconsin’s EBDM Initiative work and that can be applied by any jurisdiction seeking to enhance pretrial justice in their county and state.

NACo would like to thank the Public Welfare Foundation for its support of this document and the National Institute of Corrections and the teams from Indiana and Wisconsin for sharing information about their efforts, successes and lessons learned.