For the first time ever in Shelby County, criminal cases will be tracked from beginning to end.
The University of Memphis (U of M) launched a new research unit last week to pull criminal justice data from several agencies into one system. Within six months, a public dashboard for tracking criminal cases should be online. The new system will also allow criminal justice officials here to better evaluate program and policies.
The Criminal and Legal Evaluation using Administrative Records (CLEAR) initiative was launched in late May, thanks to a $300,000 grant from the Shelby County Commission. The CLEAR team is based in the university’s Center for Community Research and Evaluation (CCRE). The team will integrate administrative records from the jail, courts, and prosecutors for the very first time.
CLEAR is designed to strengthen the way the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office shares and integrates information with the Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk, General Sessions Court Clerk, the District Attorney’s Office, and the Shelby County Mayor’s Office.
“Right now, criminal justice data lives in silos,” said Dr. Jonathan Bennett, director of the CLEAR Initiative and chief data scientist at CCRE. “We can analyze data from the jail, or from a specific court, or from prosecutors — but not how those pieces fit together in a meaningful way. CLEAR will allow reporting and research built on a true, 360-degree view of case outcomes.”
Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy said, “We have to break down silos, build systems that can communicate with one another, and report consistent, uniform metrics that the public can easily understand.”
The CCRE team has been working with Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris for the last three years to develop a program to track outcomes on pre-trial detention in the county.
”By expanding that approach to other parts of the criminal justice system, CLEAR will strengthen accountability, support smarter policy, and deliver better results for our community,” Harris said in a statement.
The public dashboard is promised to show accessible, high-quality information on case processing and outcomes. The CLEAR data will be available in a durable data hub that will allow county agencies to sort and measure programs to see if they are working or not.
“Better data leads to better outcomes,” Bennett said. “For years, elected officials have identified data interoperability and transparency as among the county’s highest public safety priorities. CLEAR lays the foundation for data-driven solutions that can benefit the community for years to come.”
Specifically, CLEAR is designed to strengthen the way the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office shares and integrates information with the Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk, General Sessions Court Clerk, the District Attorney’s Office, and the Shelby County Mayor’s Office.
“I am confident that the CLEAR initiative will help us work together, make smarter decisions, and deliver better results for all the people of Shelby County,” Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner said in a statement.
Tami Sawyer, Shelby County General Sessions Court Clerk, said, “Our community deserves a justice system that people can understand and trust.”
