Chatham County District Attorney’s Office and JIL launch partnership

By Kelli L. Ross

SAVANNAH, GA — Justice Innovation Lab and the Chatham County (Georgia) District Attorney’s Office (CCDAO) have launched a partnership to ensure Chatham County’s criminal justice system operates fairly and transparently. During the partnership, JIL will analyze existing prosecutorial data to identify unwanted outcomes and work with the office to make concrete structural and policy changes to address them. This work builds upon the findings in the Deep Center’s ”The Problem is the Problem” report, released in May 2021.

The JIL–CCDAO partnership centers on building a culture of innovation capable of improving outcomes, eliminating unnecessary incarceration, and improving public safety over the long term.

“We know that data collection and analysis are necessary to achieve the goals of improving criminal justice outcomes, utilizing government resources more effectively, promoting transparency, enhancing community safety and well-being, reducing racial and ethnic disparities and disproportionate incarceration, and increasing the successful use of alternatives to incarceration,” said Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones. “We are thrilled to partner with JIL. Our partnership will help us build a culture around data-driven innovation and support a data-informed approach to prosecution that increases public safety.”

CCDAO’s prosecutorial data from January 2014 to date will be reviewed and analyzed to help the office improve data quality and collection. JIL will analyze CCDAO’s performance on key criminal justice metrics, and in conjunction with community members, CCDAO and JIL will design targeted policy interventions to improve identified metrics.

“Justice Innovation Lab works with jurisdictions that are committed to building a more effective and fair justice system,” said JIL Executive Director Jared Fishman. “We are excited to work with the team in Chatham County that recognizes that by using a data-informed, collaborative approach, we can solve many of the legal system’s most challenging problems.”

During the project, JIL will lead the CCDAO through a series of workshops that will equip the office with the tools, data, and understanding necessary to make more data-driven and equitable decisions.