New state laws, court initiatives identify better data sharing as path to better policymaking in justice system

When a county in Indiana Rep. Randy Frye's district proposed a tax increase to build a new jail in order to relieve overcrowding, his constituents balked. After noticing their opposition to the tax increase, he wanted to get to the root of the issue. "The question was, Why is the jail overcrowded? And when I went to find out, there wasn't any data availalbe, it's always an opinion," Frye says. "I didn't feel like I could competently address the issue." Since most data were collected by cities and counties, and not shared between jurisdictions, it wasn't there for a statewide view. So he...