West Virginia’s Justice Reinvestment
Faced with a prison population projected to increase 24 percent by 2018, West Virginia state leaders pursued justice reinvestment. After extensive quantitative and qualitative analyses identified key challenges in the state’s criminal justice system, policymakers developed a policy framework designed to strengthen community supervision, increase accountability, and expand access to substance use treatment. Justice reinvestment legislation was enacted in May 2013 and the state is projected to avert $287 million in construction and operating costs by 2018.
Arkansas policymakers have long expressed concerns about the state’s high recidivism rate. Over the past 10 years, an…
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In April 2025, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a package of bipartisan criminal justice legislation into law,…
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Explainer: Key Findings and Options from Arkansas’s Justice Reinvestment Initiative
Arkansas policymakers have long expressed concerns about the state’s high recidivism rate. Over the past 10 years, an estimated 72 percent of prison admissions in the state involved people who were revoked from supervision, with unmet substance use and mental health challenges playing a significant role in these failures.
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Explainer: How a New Law in Arkansas Tackles Crime, Recidivism, and Community Supervision Challenges
In April 2025, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a package of bipartisan criminal justice legislation into law, which is designed to increase public safety and improve community supervision. The legislation passed nearly unanimously.
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