Lane County Commissioner Jay Bozievich, who co-chairs the AOC Public Safety Committee, will represent AOC on the Criminal Justice Commission’s Justice Reinvestment Grant Review Committee. The committee will meet in October to review grant applications from counties who submitted requests for the $40 million justice reinvestment grant fund allocated by the Legislature and also for the $7 million supplemental fund created by House Bill 3078 for prison diversion.

Applications for the general fund were due in August and applications for the supplemental fund are due September 29. According to Criminal Justice Commission staff, who reported on an update to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees last week, all 36 counties submitted applications for the main justice reinvestment fund. It is expected that approximately 10 counties will apply for the supplemental fund.

After applications are reviewed by the grant review committee, they will go to the full Criminal Justice Commission for review. Rob Bovett, AOC Legal Counsel, was appointed by the Governor to serve on the commission.

The justice reinvestment grant program was created by House Bill 3194 in the 2013 session as a goal to reduce prison growth and provide investments to local counties for reentry and recidivism reduction programs. Since 2013, approximately $90 million has been sent to counties, avoiding the construction and operations of a prison set for Junction City.

Contributed by: Patrick Sieng | AOC Public Safety Policy Manager