By Erin Thorvaldson and Kendric Holder

In 2017, Missouri’s prison incarceration rate was eighth highest in the country, and violent crime had increased 13 percent between 2010 and 2016. If the rate of growth in Missouri’s prison population continued, the state would have needed to build two new prison facilities by 2021, which would have cost nearly half a billion dollars in combined construction and operating costs. To address these challenges, the state used the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI), which resulted in legislation in 2018 aimed at reforming Missouri’s criminal justice system. This brief explores the effects of that legislation.

New York: The Council of State Governments Justice Center, 2024. 8p.