According to the Wisconsin State Journal, $500,000 in Dane County funds for criminal justice reform will be put toward hiring four new county employees, delivering $200,000 in grants to nonprofits centered on violence prevention, and increasing culturally competent services in the Community Restorative Court. The spending plans come almost a year after the justice reform funds were first announced by County Executive Joe Parisi.
Two of the county employee hires will be coordinators in the county’s Community Restorative Courts, a pretrial program that looks to reconcile victims and those who commit crimes. A part-time data analyst will be added to the restorative court as well, in addition to roughly $71,000 for culturally sensitive behavioral health and peer support services. A new violence prevention program supervisor will also be brought on.
The funding originated in the 2023 budget rolled out last October by Parisi along with the creation of a new county Department of Justice Reform.
