Johnson County eyes grant to address racial disparities in legal system

IOWA CITY — Johnson County supervisors are exploring a grant that has the potential to provide millions of dollars worth of funding to research and address racial disparities in the county legal system.

The board will discuss Thursday an application for John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation's Safety and Justice Challenge grant, a five-year program geared toward researching and addressing overuse of jails, including disproportionate contact of minorities.

Local officials have been having discussions on jail disparities for several years, so the grant seems like a good fit for Johnson County, said Supervisor Janelle Rettig.

'It seemed just made for us,' she said. 'This grant would allow us to get really good data and information to begin to come up with a plan to implement a change.'

If it's awarded to the county, the grant has the potential to align with other efforts to address jail disparities including Iowa City's equity report and plans to enter into a contract with the National Council on Crime and Delinquency.

Mickey Miller, county grants and communications specialist, said the county likely will postpone moving forward with the NCCD review of criminal activity, which could cost up to $30,000, until after grant recipients are announced.

Jurisdictions with governing authority over a local jail are eligible for the grant, with Johnson County's board acting as the lead applicant, while collaborating with others including local police departments, the Johnson County Attorney's Office, Department of Correctional Facilities, University of Iowa Law School and community groups like the Dream Center.

'Without the buy-in of other law enforcement agencies in the county, we just can't make that kind of progress,' Rettig said.

Miller said in an email the first round of applications are due March 31, with selected jurisdictions announced in May.

Twenty jurisdictions will be selected for the first round and receive a $150,000 award and a technical assistance partner. The funding and assistance partner will allow for an examination of the county's jail creation of a strategic plan to reduce incarceration without compromising public safety, Miller said.

The second round of the grant process narrows down applicants to the 10 most promising, with between $500,000 and $2 million per year provided for two to five years to implement the strategic plan.

A 2014 American Civil Liberties Union report found that blacks in Iowa are eight times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites — Iowa had the highest disparity in the nation.