Sanford "Sandy" Krasnoff New Orleans Criminal Justice Council

History, Mission, & Vision

History:

The Criminal Justice Coordinating Council was established by ordinance in 1970 to coordinate crime control and criminal justice activities in New Orleans. In 2004, the body was renamed the Sanford "Sandy" Krasnoff New Orleans Criminal Justice Council after the late victims' rights advocate. Although the membership and role has evolved over the years, the focus and purpose of the body has always been to bring stakeholders together to make the justice system function in a better and more coordinated way.

Vision:

The SKNOCJC envisions system actors and stakeholders working collaboratively to create fair, just, and efficient criminal and juvenile justice systems.

Mission:

The SKNOCJC will coordinate criminal and juvenile justice systems that promote equity and fairness and support victims by fostering collaboration between the systems' leaders and stakeholders. The SKNOCJC will enhance system services by maximizing public investment in accountable data-driven system outcomes. The SKNOCJC will explore evidence-based best practices that increase community safety and provide recommendations to the Mayor and City Council to reduce overall recidivism.

SKNOCJC Membership

The SKNOCJC membership is established by ordinance and includes 24 stakeholders that represent the City, the justice system, and the community. Membership includes:

  • The Mayor*
  • City Councilmembers (3)
  • Superintendent of Police
  • District Attorney
  • Criminal District Court Judge
  • Clerk of Criminal District Court
  • Juvenile Court Judge
  • Municipal and Traffic Court Judge
  • City Attorney
  • Chief Administrative Officer
  • Orleans Parish Sheriff
  • Chief Orleans Public Defender
  • Coroner
  • Office of Youth and Families Director
  • Probation and Parole District Administrator
  • Office of Juvenile Justice Regional Administrator
  • New Orleans Business Council Representative
  • Total Community Action Representative
  • Community Representatives-at-Large (3)

*The Commissioner of Criminal Justice Coordination is the Mayor's permanent designee and typically chairs all meetings.

 

The provision of equitable justice is a fundamental duty of government. In a diverse and democratic society that duty depends on cooperation among all parties with a legitimate stake. The Sanford “Sandy” Krasnoff Criminal Justice Council brings together criminal justice stakeholders including elected officials, agency heads and community members to share insight and align objectives across the system. The Council is the highest advisory body on criminal justice issues in Orleans parish, in this role it advises the Mayor and City Council, develops policy positions and recommends legislation. Its mission is to realize a criminal justice system that is internally coordinated, transparent and accountable to the people of New Orleans. The Council holds bi-monthly meetings which are free and open to the public.

Ordinance No. 026316 establishes the Criminal Justice Council's authority to convene subcommittees and other study groups to conduct business on behalf of the Council.

In 2014, the Criminal Justice Information Sharing Subcommittee was created to study, identify, and pursue the benefits and address challenges of achieving fully integrated information sharing amongst all criminal justice agencies.

The Jail Population Management Subcommittee was created in 2015 to identify and implement strategies and policy recommendations that could permanently reduce Orleans Justice Center's (OJC) average daily population to be better accommodated in the facility.

Since 2014, the City of New Orleans and a robust group of cross-sector partners have been working to improve outcomes for formerly incarcerated persons in Orleans Parish. Established as the New Orleans Reentry Task Force of the Criminal Justice Council in 2017, the Reentry Task Force will continue to build its community capacity of stakeholders and use of best practices to truly reduce recidivism and improve the quality of life for justice-involved persons in Orleans Parish.

Meetings

All Subcommittee meetings dates will be announced as scheduled. Meeting dates will be posted in the Meetings &Minutes tab as they are announced.

Subcommittee meetings are open to the public, and members of the public are invited and encouraged to attend. Any questions regarding these meetings should be forwarded, in writing, to the Office of Criminal Justice Coordination, Room # 8E08, 1300 Perdido St. New Orleans, LA 70112.

Criminal Justice Information Sharing Subcommittee

The Criminal Justice Information Sharing (CJIS) Subcommittee was formed in 2014 to enhance system processes by integrating technology to better enable informative communication between agencies. The subcommittee is composed of managers and technology staff from each criminal and juvenile justice agency and New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation.  A fully integrated CJIS environment will provide criminal justice professionals the information they need at the time it is needed in the form it is needed. The CJIS Subcommittee coordinates information sharing through the Orleans Parish Criminal Justice Information Sharing Strategic Plan approved in 2014.

CJIS Subcommittee Agencies
City Attorney's Office Clerk of Court, Criminal District Court
Criminal District Court Homeland Security
Information Technology and Innovation Juvenile Court
New Orleans Police Department New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation
Municipal Court Office of Criminal Justice Coordination
Orleans Parish District Attorney Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office
Orleans Public Defender Probation and Parole
Traffic Court Youth Study Center

CJIS Governance Committee Structure

CJIS Governance Board

  • One representative from Municipal Court, Criminal Court, Orleans Parish District Attorney, Public Defender, Clerk of Criminal Court, Sheriff, NOPD, Juvenile Court, Traffic Court, City Attorney, City's CIO, and Office of Criminal Justice Coordination
  • Determines rules for justice information sharing / drafts information sharing MOU
  • Prioritizes interagency justice information sharing projects
  • Enforces data quality decisions within each member's respective agency
  • Monitors work of CJIS Subcommittee

CJIS Subcommittee

  • Comprised of managers and technology staff from each criminal and juvenile justice agency and NOPJF
  • Identifies information and technology priorities/needs
  • Identifies technology and business process solutions to improve integration/justice information sharing
  • Develops justice information sharing strategic plan
  • Addresses data quality issues / maintains interagency data dictionary
  • Develops interagency information sharing data/technology standards
  • Change Management

Jail Population Management Subcommittee

Mayor Mitch Landrieu created the Jail Population Management (JPM) Subcommittee in 2015 through the Criminal Justice Council. Chaired by the City’s Criminal Justice Comissioner, the JPM Subcommittee is composed of high-level designees within each criminal justice agency and three representatives from the Safety and Justice Challenge Community Advisory Group.

JPM Subcommittee Agencies
Chief Administrative Office City Attorney's Office
City Council Clerk of Court, Criminal District Court
Criminal District Court Magistrate Court
Mayor's Office Municipal Court
New Orleans Police Department Orleans Parish District Attorney
Orleans Public Defender Parole and Probation
Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office  

New Orleans Reentry Task Force

The New Orleans Reentry Task Force supports the vision of the Louisiana Prisoner Reentry Initiative, that every offender released back to the community will have access to the tools needed to successfully reintegrate into the community.

Bylaws


The Criminal Justice Council bylaws establish a process by which member duties and responsibilities are assigned, regular and special meeting schedules, methods of sharing information, and identifies criteria of eligibility for agencies to receive grant funds from the Council.

The Criminal Justice Council bylaws were last revised in Fall 2023.

Performance Measures

Criminal Justice Council Self-Evaluation Questionnaire

Resolutions


2017

  • Jail Population Management Subcommittee Resolution on Racial and Ethnic Disparity

2014

  • Criminal Justice Council Resolution on Performance Measures
  • Criminal Justice Council Resolution on Criminal Justice Information Sharing Strategic Plan

Strategic Plans

Criminal Justice Information Sharing Subcommittee

  • Criminal Justice Information Sharing Strategic Plan

Jail Population Management Subcommittee

  • 2015-09-21 Jail Population Management Strategic Plan
  • 2015-09-21 Jail Population Management Presentation
  • 2015-07-01 Jail Population Management Proposed Strategic Plan
  • 2015-04-21 Jail Population Management Presentation

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