An initiative led by the U.S. Department of Justice recently unveiled a set of more than 40 metrics covering the entire criminal legal system, from law enforcement to community supervision, that states can report online to provide policymakers with more current data about their justice systems.

The Justice Counts initiative, led by the Bureau of Justice Assistance within the Office of Justice Programs as well as the Council of State Governments Justice Center, aims to provide policymakers with more timely justice data so they can make informed decisions about their criminal legal systems.

Amy Solomon, principal deputy assistant attorney general at the Office of Justice Programs, said Wednesday at a virtual event that publicly available data on public safety, like arrest rates and jail populations, is often years old, preventing policymakers from making decisions based on fresh data.

"The goal of Justice Counts is to leverage the data that we have at police departments and sheriff's offices and corrections agencies and court systems to help leaders make informed fiscal policy decisions without expensive upgrades in technology and manpower," Solomon said.

Launched in 2020, Justice Counts is supported by more than 20 national organizations, including the American Jail Association, the Correctional Leaders Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Justice Management Institute, the National Legal Aid & Defender Association, the National Sheriffs' Association and the Rand Corp.

For more than a year, the state governments' justice center worked with criminal justice data transparency nonprofit Measures for Justice and Bureau of Justice Assistance staff to facilitate conversations with Justice Counts committee members and partner associations on what metrics should be used to collect better justice data, according to Justice Counts.

Justice Counts said the participants generated nearly 1,200 potential metrics and narrowed them down to roughly 40 data points that are among Tier 1 metrics.

The Tier 1 metrics consist of six categories that can be applied across seven sectors of the criminal legal system, according to Justice Counts. The six categories are capacity and costs, population movements, operations and dynamics, public safety, equity, and fairness. The seven sectors are law enforcement, prosecution, defense, courts, jails, prisons, and community supervision.

Alison Bloomquist, vice president of strategic alliances and innovation at the national defenders' association, said in a statement Wednesday that data was needed to expose injustices in the criminal legal system.

"Defenders have been seeing racial inequities in the criminal legal system for years, but too often, we're lacking in hard data necessary to expose and fight against this inequity," Bloomquist said.

Justice Counts said it was offering two programs to help states implement the metrics throughout their criminal legal systems.

A founding states program gives 10 states direct assistance with recruiting agencies, hands-on implementation support and early access to the project's digital infrastructure, according to Justice Counts.

An implementation grant program gives 15 states financial support and technical assistance with implementation of the metrics and using Justice Counts' digital infrastructure, Justice Counts said.

Michael Boggs, chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court and chair of the Justice Counts national steering committee, said in a statement Wednesday that the metrics would be a valuable tool for all of Georgia's courts and state leaders.

"Having ready access to uniform, timely and accurate data on caseloads, case filings, prosecution and defense data and pretrial services will provide needed and valuable insights as states, including Georgia, seek to determine how their systems are operating and performing," Justice Boggs said.

--Editing by Marygrace Anderson and Karin Roberts.

Have a story idea for Access to Justice? Reach us at accesstojustice@law360.com.