Waukesha County, Wisconsin, is 581 square miles in size, and has a population of approximately 400,000 citizens, which is the third most populous county in the state. In 2015, when Waukesha County began participating in the EBDM Initiative, the District Attorney’s Office opened 7,343 criminal files. Charges were filed in 5,558 of those cases, which included: 1,416 felony cases, 2,347 misdemeanor cases, and an additional 1,795 Criminal Traffic cases. That same year, 8,062 individuals were booked into the Waukesha County Jail. Approximately 1,302 individuals were placed on probation in 2015 in Waukesha County.
EBDM Stakeholders
The EBDM Policy Team was formed as a subcommittee of the Waukesha County Criminal Justice Collaborating Council (CJCC), which was established by county board ordinance in October 2002. The principal mission of the CJCC is to enhance public safety and promote the effective and efficient administration of the criminal justice system through community collaboration by ensuring offender accountability and providing rehabilitation services, while recognizing the rights and needs of victims.
The EBDM Policy Team is comprised of a variety of stakeholders, including:
1. Presiding Circuit Court Judge, Chair
2. County Executive
3. District Attorney
4. Sheriff
5. Clerk of Courts
6. County Board Chair
7. DHHS Director
8. DOC Regional Chief
9. DOC Field Supervisor
10. State Public Defender Regional Attorney Manager
11. District Court Administrator
12. Chief of Police
13. Police Captain
14. Municipal Judge
15. Victim Witness Director
16. Non-Profit Agency Program Director
17. CJCC Coordinator
Vision for EBDM
Building a safer community through a fair and effective justice system.
Harm Reduction Goals
Waukesha County’s harm reduction goals include the following:
1. Ensure the efficient use of criminal justice system resources through a reduction in case processing days and emergency detentions.
2. Ensure fairness and equity in the criminal justice system through an increase in the collection of restitution for victims and a decrease in the use of cash bail.
3. Enhance public safety, trust, and confidence in the criminal justice system through a reduction in crime.
Read more what stakeholders in Waukesha are saying about the EBDM Initiative:
EBDM is important to the judiciary because it provides an opportunity to collaborate, discuss, and implement changes with justice system stakeholders; changes that promote fairness, efficiency and the rule of law. The process of EBDM provides a mechanism for the judiciary to build relationships with justice system partners and be involved at a level previously not encouraged or done. This line of communication is essential in building trust, respect, and collaboration in a system that has and will continue to experience fairly dramatic changes over the foreseeable future. – Hon. Jennifer Dorow, Presiding Judge
EBDM promotes prioritizing justice system resources to provide fair, consistent, and fiscally responsible outcomes for our entire community. – Paul Decker, County Board Chairman
EBDM has allowed Waukesha County to structure an appropriate risk-based model for pretrial supervision in OWI cases which is valuable to the District Attorney’s office to assist in protecting the public. EBDM has also provided a framework for the District Attorney’s office to process traffic and low-level misdemeanor cases more efficiently, thereby freeing time to focus on serious misdemeanors and felonies, which also ultimately leads to increased public safety. – Sue Opper, District Attorney
For more information on the EBDM Initiative in Waukesha County, contact:
Rebecca Luczaj, CJCC Coordinator, at rluczaj@waukeshacounty.gov.