Addressing the logistics of starting a CJCC can seem overwhelming at first. Creating a project plan with action items, task assignments and deadlines will help the CJCC remain organized.

Governance Structure

Most CJCCs with advanced practices are city/county collaborations. Typically, they are independent from the city and/or county administrative structure. The staff is primarily responsible to the CJCC, although they may be housed in a city or county office building.

All CJCCs have a chairperson and many have a vice-chair. Normally, these two individuals also serve on a steering committee or executive committee. These leadership committees are usually required because the total CJCC membership is large. In addition, most CJCCs have both standing and special purpose committees.

Executive Committee and Standing Committees

The purpose and composition of the executive committee, the standing committees and the task forces must be determined. It is important to recognize that the need for staff support will increase as the CJCC forms committees and task forces. Larger boards almost always need an executive committee. For standing committees, some CJCCs form interdisciplinary committees to consider specific problem areas, such as behavioral health, information sharing, jail crowding or juvenile matters. These committees can each have their own Chair and Vice-Chair. CJCCs often establish sub-committees that pull staff from several agencies. For example, some subcommittees include a particularly knowledgeable staff and technical experts who may be subordinates to CJCC members. Many times, each committee chair serves on the Executive Committee as well. The committees tackle problems specific to their purpose areas through the work completed in the sub-committees. The sub-committees are designed for specific projects and have a specific duration of time.

Administrative Location :

The administrative location for housing CJCC staff can often be decided based on the driving force behind the creation of the CJCC. One of the key factors in a successful CJCC is the ability to respect the independence and equitable nature of the CJCC and its members. Selecting an administrative location may not always be flexible, however it is important to maintain the practice and appearance of impartiality among members while deciding where CJCC staff may be located. Often it can be helpful for CJCC staff to be located close to the CJCC Chair; however, this can put the sustainability of the CJCC in jeopardy if that person is an elected official (and does not get reelected) or the CJCC elects another person for the Chair position and the staff person is shifted from location to location. Finding a neutral location that allows for proximity to CJCC members but represents neutral access is the ideal.

All entities that fund staff or participate in a CJCC should understand a subtle but important aspect of the staff person’s role. There is a distinction between “who the staff works for” and “who the staff reports to.” CJCC staff typically work for the CJCC as a whole and not for any individual office or department. When working for the collective good of the CJCC, the committee assures staff neutrality and credibility. It is recommended that jurisdictions place staff somewhere in the organizational framework at one of the participating entities (county or city government), so that staff will report to a supervisor in the entity’s organizational hierarchy. The supervisor, who is often a CJCC member, monitors staff performance on behalf of the CJCC ensuring that staff have the necessary tools and are responsive to the needs of the CJCC.

The administrative location for a CJCC varies across the country. The most common location (and the most optimal from an effectiveness perspective) for criminal justice planning staff is the County (or city) Administrator’s/Manager’s Office for two primary reasons. First, the county government is usually responsible for the single most expensive resource of the local justice system - the county jail. As such it is in the county’s best interest to provide a collaborative structure to determine the sustainable use of the jail resource by the entities that may or may not be part of the county government’s responsibility (e.g. law enforcement, courts, prosecution, probation). Second, people typically view criminal justice planning staff in the County Administrator’s/Manager’s Office as more neutral than staff who report to the sheriff, prosecutor, or other department head especially when the County Administrator and Commissioners/Supervisors pronounce that the staff persons (a) work on the CJCC’s initiatives, rather than on the county government’s own initiatives and (b) exist to complement and enhance rather than contradict or detract from the sovereign decision-making authority of elected officials and agencies within the local justice system. Moreover, this positioning of staff often helps staff access all agencies, whether state, county or municipal for data collection and the solicitation of ideas and information relevant to the CJCC’s initiatives. For more examples of administrative location, please see Staffing a CJCC.

Bylaws

Bylaws should be developed to govern the day-to-day business of the CJCC and to delineate the specific powers and duties of the CJCC, its members, and its staff. The development of bylaws formalizes the process of creating a skeleton agreement that can serve as the basis for a CJCC (see appendix E for sample bylaws for a CJCC). Below is a list of common sections found in CJCC bylaws. Much of this will need to be developed after the formation of the CJCC and in coordination with CJCC members.

Selecting the Chair

Selecting the CJCC chair almost always elicits comments about the requirements of leadership. Recommended characteristics for a CJCC chair, including the following:

• A leader who maintains a fair environment for all members
• Sets their own best interests aside for the greater good of group
• Is available to guide and support the council and council staff
• Is able to facilitate respectful discussion and keep the council on task
• Serves as a champion of the council and its outward appearance of importance

Leadership will change over time. The CJCC will need to plan for leadership transitions to avoid crises when they occur. One of the greatest struggles that CJCC’s face is change in leadership. The leadership found in the Chair or Vice-chair and the leadership found in the elected officials at the table can change without notice. Preparing for leadership turnover is extremely important as that change is inevitable in our local systems. There many are ways to make transitions of leadership more successful.

1. Ensure bylaws, written agreements, and MOU’s are agency driven rather than person driven
2. Continue to show the level of importance of the CJCC to your community
3. Anticipate transition and plan ahead (particularly around election time)
4. Utilize other leaders on the council to aid in transition
5. Quickly and efficiently orient new leaders to the CJCC to ensure their level of comfort with participation (more information on member orientation can be found here)

Voting

The bylaws of most CJCCs address voting, and most refer to a majority rule. Additionally, most CJCCs outline who has formal and official voting rights by position. Council membership should be specified in the bylaws along with the principal’s governing methods and terms of appointment. Overlapping terms of at least one year are important for continuity in board composition.

In practice, many CJCCs do not actually bring issues to a vote; instead, decisions are usually made by consensus. But consensus is not always the rule. For example, when an issue comes up for a vote at the Hennepin County/City of Minneapolis CJCC , it is not adopted unless there is unanimous agreement. The level of trust within the council can have a direct effect on the voting requirements that are set in your bylaws.

The potential for a vote tends to level the playing field in which separate agencies usually differ in terms of power and authority. Representatives from small jurisdictions have an equal opportunity to express their views, and, if a vote is taken, their vote often carries the same weight as a larger jurisdiction.

Some jurisdictions, concerned about attendance, permit only the official members to vote. This means their subordinates can attend and represent them, but they cannot vote, and they do not count toward a quorum.