North Dakota’s Justice Reinvestment Approach: Investing in Community-Based Behavioral Health Services Instead of Prisons

In North Dakota, a justice reinvestment approach resulted in sweeping changes to improve community-based treatment for people in the criminal justice system and to increase the number of treatment providers to serve this population. The state will also prioritize prison bed space for people convicted of the most serious offenses by utilizing probation and limiting lengths of stay for people in prison who have committed lower-level felony offenses and who have violated the conditions of their supervision. This publication presents a full summary of the justice reinvestment process and legislation.