SRLJC History

Below is a timeline of where our most recent Spokane Regional Law and Justice council began and what has transpired since it's reestablishment in 2014.

SRLJC Timeline

SRLJC Historic timeline
Date Event Comments
2/6/2022 Senior Director of Law & Justice Mike Sparber is selected as Senior Director of Law & Justice. 
6/29/2021 The Racial Equity Committee is Re-Established The Board of County Commissioners pass Resolution 21-0459 to re-establish the Racial Equity Committee in order to assist the SRLJC carry out its powers and duties. 
6/29/2021 SRLJC is Restructured The Board of County Commissioners pass Resolution 21-0458 to re-establish the SRLJC and supporting workgroups.
3/10/2021 SRLJC Procedure Manual Adopted SRLJC Procedure Manual proposed by the Strategic Planning Committee are adopted.
November 16 & 17, 2018 Implicit Bias "Train the Trainers" Over 20 trainees attended an Implicit Bias "Train the Trainer" 6 hour workshop given by JustLead Washington and Ada Shen-Jaffe. Trainers were developed, who then will be scheduled to conduct trainings in the City & County Law & Justice departments in Implicit Bias and Social Cognition.
11/ 14/2018 SRLJC By-Laws Amended SRLJC Amended By-Laws proposed by the Strategic Planning Committee are adopted.
8/ 22/2018 Law & Justice Administrator Maggie Yates is hired as the new Spokane Regional Law & Justice Administrator
Apr-May 2018 NCSC National Center for State Courts (NCSC) conducted an intensive site visit to aid in case processing procedures.
April 2018 GARE Toolkit Training

The Government Alliance on Racial Equity came to train city and County leaders and managers on the use of a Racial Equity Toolkit which will aid in their decision making processes. (See more) Training was funded by the MacArthur Safety and Justice Challenge grant. 
3/2/2018 SAFER "Lite" SAFER "Lite" full implementation in all 3 courts. Full SAFER tool still in development process.
January 2018 Implicit Bias Training Over 325 City and County criminal justice employees, including judges, prosecutors, public defenders, jail staff, police and sheriff staff attended 1.5 hours of introductory Implicit Bias Training by Ada Shen-Jaffe.
January 2018 Community Resource Center Charter approved This project will lay the ground work for the creation of a Community Resource Center which would provide necessary transitional housing from jail to reentry, allowing social and health providers within the center to eliminate the delay to physical and practical obstacles to successful reentry. Additionally the center would provide step-up and step-down levels of supervision, an effective use of electronic home monitoring system, and provide the citizen struggling to remain crime free an open door to receive services and treatment.
10/1/2017 Dept. of Justice "Smart Reentry" Grant awarded The Smart Reentry Grant focuses on Evidence-based strategies for successful reentry from incarceration to community.
08/1/2017 Felony Prosecutorial Diversion program launched. The Felony Diversion program is designed to divert first time felony level defendants from traditional prosecution and offer them an opportunity to participate in programming, financially restore the victim, give back to the community, and avoid a felony conviction on their record.
6/22/2017 Community Re-entry Charter Project approved. The goal of this project will be to work with "Better Health Together" to create a HUB model which will link those coming out of jail with case workers who can follow them through customized 'pathways'. These pathways (i.e. assistance with housing, employment, mental and physical health, etc) will help the individuals to more successfully integrate into society with a lower risk of re-entry back into the criminal justice system.
6/21/2017 Mental Health Crisis Stabilization Facility Charter Project Phase II Implementation phase. approved. Charter Project Implementation Phase II pending authorization. (ETA September 2017)
1/11/2017 SAFER Tool Pilot Launched Spokane Assessment for Evaluation of Risk (SAFER) software tool pilot introduced in Pretrial Services.
1/11/2017 3 year Strategic Plan adopted 2017 - 2019 Strategic Priorities and Community safety action items document which was developed by the Strategic Planning workgroup.
3/28/2017 Victims of Crime Held a Victims of Crime Roundtable discussion through the work of the Safety and Justice Challenge and the National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC) to help develop a set of principles for victim engagement in the front-end of criminal justice reform.
12/9/2016  Mental Health Crisis Stabilization Facility Charter Project Phase I - fact-finding phase. approved. Phase I completed 7/19/2017.
​See Introduction video.
11/16/2016 Pretrial Services expanded 4 of 6 new Pre-trial Service Officers hired to expand and implement "Robust" Pretrial Services.
10/1/2016 Mental Health Diversion program launched. The program is intended as an early intervention to offer an alternative to inpatient competency evaluation and restoration. The program will divert misdemeanor and low-level felony offenders from incarceration and hospitalization directly to outpatient competency evaluation and behavioral health services at the discretion of the Prosecutor, when the issue of competency is raised by the court or other parties.
May 2016 MacArthur Grant Phase II $1.7M Safety & Justice Challenge Grant awarded.
10/1/2015 1st Racial Equity Subcommittee meeting Ben Stuckart - chair, Judge Aimee Maurer - vice chair. 
6/26/2015 SRLJC Racial Equity Subcommittee established In response to recommendations in the Blueprint for Reform. The Admin Committee established the Racial Equity Subcommittee.
5/27/2015 MacArthur Phase 1 Planning Grant Awarded. Spokane is one of 20 sites nationwide to receive a planning grant of $150K to this grant was to develop a plan to address jail overcrowding, jail length of stay, and racial and ethnic disparities.
4/15/2015 SRLJC By-laws adopted SRLJC By-laws proposed by the Process & Planning subcommittee are adopted.
​See link to original By-laws 4/15/15 .
3/30/2015 ​MacArthur Safety and Justice Challenge Grant applied for MacArthur S&J Application
3/23/2015 Community member seats added to SRLJC The Spokane Board of County Commissioners add two community member seats to the SRLJC.
3/11/2015 Glenn Harris presents on racial equity to SRLJC. Disproportionate impact of the criminal justice system on people of color is documented using data.
10/24/2014 7 Subcommittees formed Process & Planning, Risk/Needs/Responsivity, Performance Measures, Evidence Based Processes, Facilities, & Technology
5/6/2014 Spokane Regional Law and Justice Council reestablished See Resolution 14-0392.
April 2014 Criminal Justice Administrator
​Dr. Jacqueline van Wormer, Ph D is contracted as the 1st Spokane Regional Criminal Justice Administrator.
1/10/2014 Blueprint for Reform is published The Criminal Justice Commission write up the Blueprint for Reform with observations and recommendations
Mar-Nov 2013 SRCJC Meetings The Criminal Justice Commission held meetings with all CJ stakeholders and gathered current operating processes and heard their successes and challenges
11/21/2012 Criminal Justice Commission formed City of Spokane and Spokane County appoint a 3-person commission to study the regional criminal justice system and make recommendations.