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2022 NASC Annual Conference


AGENDA AT A GLANCE

Date/Time
Topic
Speakers
Location
Sunday, August 7
5:00 - 6:30 p.m.
Informal Happy Hour for NASC Members & Guests
Mezzanine
Monday, August 8
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Conference Check-in
Lobby
3:00 - 3:15 p.m.
Conference Welcome
OR Cr. Justice Comm.
Crystal Ballroom
3:15 - 4:30 p.m.
Values-driven, Data-supported: Managing through the backlash
Presenter: Mike Schmidt
Crystal Ballroom
4:30 - 5:00 p.m.
All States Update: Part I of II
Moderator: Susanne DiPietro
Crystal Ballroom
5:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Conference Reception
This reception made possible though the support of the Arnold Foundation
London Grill
Tuesday, August 9
7:30 a.m.
Breakfast
London Grill
7:30 - 8:00 a.m.
Conference Check-in
Lobby
8:30 - 9:45 a.m
Plenary Session #P2
Impacts of Drug Decriminalization on Oregon Sentencing Guidelines
Kelly Officer; Christopher Campbell
Crystal Ballroom

9:45 - 10:00 a.m.
Morning Break
Crystal Ballroom
10:00 - 11:15 a.m.
Break Out Sessions - Choose One
B1/Community Corrections: State Approaches to Funding Supervision
Carl  Reynolds; Jeremiah Stromberg
Brighton Room

B2/Keeping Families Together: Creating and Strengthening Family-Based Diversion and Sentencing Alternatives
Sandy F. Mullins; Ken Sanchagrin; Chris Chandler; Brooke Vice; Facilitator: Isabel Coronado
Cambridge/Oxford Room

11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.
Lunch & Rick Kern Memorial Keynote Speaker
Kelly Mitchell
Crystal Ballroom
12:45 - 2:00 p.m.
Plenary Session #P3
Curbing Extreme Sentences
Kelly Mitchell; Douglas Carver; Jinwoo Park; Nazgol Ghandnoosh
Crystal Ballroom

2:00 - 2:15 p.m.
Afternoon Break
Crystal Ballroom
2:15 - 3:30 p.m.
Break Out Sessions - Choose One
B3/Voting Rights
Alex Tsarkov; Nicole Porter; Zach Winston
Cambridge/Oxford Room
B4/The Politics of Data Collection and Strategies for Success
Niki Hotchkiss; Mark Bergstrom; Judge Zmuda; Susanne DiPietro; Erin Harbinson
Brighton Room
B5/Using Data & Collaboration to Develop State Parole Guidelines
Brett Miller
Windsor Room
3:30 - 4:00 p.m.
All States Update Part II of II
Moderator: Susanne DiPietro
Crystal Ballroom
4:00 p.m.
Annual Membership Meeting: Elections, Bylaws Amendment, Other NASC Business
Regency Boardroom
6:00 p.m.
Dinner on your own
Wednesday, August 10
7:00 a.m.
Breakfast
London Grill
7:30 - 8:00
Conference Check-in
Lobby
8:00 - 9:00 a.m.
NASC Executive Committee Meeting
NASC Exec Committee
Regency Boardroom
9:00 - 10:15 a.m.
Plenary Session #P4
Comprehensive Review of Sentencing Guidelines in Pennsylvania and Washington
Mark H. Bergstrom; Rhys Hester; Matthew Kleiman
Crystal Ballroom
10:30 - 11:45 a.m.
Break Out Sessions - Choose One
B6/Cost of Incarceration: “Room and Board” Fees
Keri-Anne Jetzer; Anna VanCleave; Brittany Friedman Moderator: Alex Tsarkov
Brighton Room
B7/Supervision of Probationers Who Have a Mental Illness: Research & Policy Implications
Tracy Velázquez; Tonya VanDeinse; Veronica Cunningham
Cambridge/Oxford Room

B8/Five Years Later: Findings and Implications from Criminal Justice Reform in Alaska
Matt Claman; Susanne DiPietro
Windsor Room

Noon - 1:30 p.m.
Lunch & Justice Counts
Katie Mosehauer
Crystal Ballroom

About NASC


The first informal sentencing commission conference was held in Washington State in 1993. Conferences continued annually and the organization assumed a more formal structure by incorporating and adopting the title of the National Association of Sentencing Commissions (NASC) in the late 1990s. An Executive Committee was established, bylaws were adopted, and officers were elected. All state commissions and the United States Sentencing Commission were invited to participate in the newly-formed organization.
Currently, the NASC membership includes representation from roughly two dozen states with formally established sentencing commissions or policy councils and states considering the creation of a sentencing commission. The mission of the National Association of Sentencing Commissions is to facilitate the exchange and sharing of information, ideas, data, expertise, and experiences and to educate individuals on issues related to sentencing policies, sentencing guidelines, and sentencing commissions.
NASC does not endorse any single sentencing structure but rather supports the development of rational and effective sentencing policy, which can be achieved in various forms. NASC membership includes states with or without sentencing guidelines, states with presumptive or voluntary guidelines, and states with determinate or indeterminate sentencing practices. It is not the structure of the sentencing system but rather the goals of that system that are important to the development of good sentencing policy.
NASC concentrates on providing its membership with the tools to develop a sentencing system that reflects the priorities and values of individual states. By sharing research findings on topics associated with sentencing policy, such as the use of intermediate punishment options, the effectiveness of substance abuse treatment, and recidivism rates, states are able to incorporate these findings into the development of a sentencing system that appropriately addresses specific areas of concern or need.
In addition, NASC provides a forum to exchange experiences among the states regarding both successes and failures in sentencing reform. Seldom does a state face a problem that has not been dealt with in some fashion or form by another state. Sharing information and learning from one another has been the primary focus of NASC activities since its inception. Every year, the NASC conference brings together judges, legislators, correctional officials, policy makers, academics, researchers, and practitioners from around the country to examine our nation's experiences with sentencing laws and practices and to discuss emerging issues and innovations.

Welcome


WELCOME TO PORTLAND AND NASC 2022
Three years have passed since the last in-person gathering of the National Association of Sentencing Commissions. Since our time together in 2019, the nation has been navigating a global pandemic, economic and societal disruption, upheaval within the criminal legal system, and renewed attention to crime and social justice. Sentencing and work of sentencing commissions intersect with numerous aspects of the systems affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and have been impacted by the national reckoning that occurred following the murder of George Floyd as well as the changing dynamics in crime and justice that have followed. Recognizing the important roles that sentencing commissions have had to play during this period, the theme for the 2022 NASC Annual Conference is “Disruption: New Ideas for Data, Sentencing, and Justice.” Sessions include topics focused on drug decriminalization, community corrections and/or supervision, curbing extreme sentences, sentencing data platforms, sentencing guidelines review, cost of incarceration, and the impacts of criminal justice reform, among others.
The NASC 2022 Annual Conference is the only national conference with a focus on sentencing and its related issues. It is designed to provide an opportunity to share ideas, experiences, and expertise, while strengthening the connections between member commissions. On behalf of the NASC Board and the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, welcome to Portland!
THE OREGON CRIMINAL JUSTICE COMMISSION
The mission of the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission is to improve the legitimacy, efficiency, and effectiveness of state and local criminal justice systems. To accomplish this mission, the Commission provides the state with a centralized, impartial forum for statewide public safety policy development and planning, while also providing grant funds to programs designed to improve public safety across Oregon according to best practices. Some of the responsibilities of the Commission include developing a longrange public safety plan for Oregon; analyzing capacity and use of state prisons and local jails, implementation of community corrections programs and methods to reduce future criminal conduct; funding and evaluating Oregon specialty courts; developing fiscal and racial/ethnic impact estimates of crime-related legislation and citizen initiated ballot measures; acting as the clearinghouse for Oregon criminal justice data; and administering Oregon's felony sentencing guidelines.

2021-2022 NASC Executive Committee


Susanne DiPietro, J.D.
President
Executive Director,
Alaska Judicial Council
Matthew Kleiman, Ph.D.
Vice President
Deputy Director,
Pennsylvania Sentencing Commission
Romie Griesmer, J.D.
Treasurer
Delaware Sentencing Accountability
Commission & Delaware Law School
Nate Reitz, J.D.
Secretary
Executive Director, Minnesota Sentencing
Guidelines Commission
Nikole Hotchkiss, Ph.D.
Assistant Director
Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission
Carl Reynolds, J.D.
Executive Committee Member
Senior Legal and Policy Advisor,
Council of State Governments Justice Center
Michelle Hall
Executive Committee Member
Executive Director,
North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission

Agenda


Sunday, August 7
5:00 - 6:30 p.m.
NASC Board, Oregon Criminal Justice Commission
Mezzanine
NASC Board, OR Sent.Comm.
Catch up with fellow conference attendees and guests in the historic Benson Hotel lobby bar (no host bar).
Monday, August 8
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Conference Check-in
Lobby
3:00 - 3:15 p.m.
Conference Welcome
Crystal Ballroom
Ken Sanchagrin, J.D., Ph.D., Executive Director, Oregon Criminal Justice Commission
3:15 - 4:30 p.m.
Values-driven, Data-supported: Managing through the backlash
Crystal Ballroom
Mike Schmidt, Multnomah County District Attorney
Elected just after the COVID-19 pandemic took hold and prior to the death of George Floyd, Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt took office during the height of Black Lives Matter and other protests. Today, the headlines are dominated by soaring gun violence rates and heightened concern about other crimes. In addition, backlogs and record caseloads resulting from the pandemic response continue to plague the criminal legal system.
Values and data ground DA Schmidt during these tumultuous times in his first term as an elected official. DA Schmidt will share examples of how his office has advanced transparency by making data dashboards available to the public. Beyond transparency and accountability, research and data impact MCDA's approach to prosecution. DA Schmidt will share some of the policy changes and other decisions that illustrate how values supported by data are moving prosecutors toward smart-on-crime approaches to reduce racial disparities in the criminal legal system and improve public safety.
4:30 - 5:00 p.m.
All States Update: Part I of II
Crystal Ballroom
Moderator: Susanne DiPietro, J.D., Executive Director, Alaska Judicial Council
Short updates from members in states A-M.
5:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Conference Reception
London Grill
Made possible by the Arnold Foundation
Arnold Ventures is a philanthropy dedicated to tackling some of the most pressing problems in the United States. We invest in sustainable change, build it from the ground up based on research, deep thinking, and a strong foundation of evidence. We drive public conversation, craft policy, and inspire action through education and advocacy.
Tuesday, August 9
7:30 a.m.
Breakfast
London Grill
7:30 - 8:00 a.m.
Conference Check-in
Lobby
8:30 - 9:45 a.m.
Plenary Session #2: Impacts of Drug Decriminalization on Oregon Sentencing Guidelines
Crystal Ballroom
Kelly Officer, Research Director, Oregon Criminal Justice Commission
Christopher Campbell, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Portland State University
In 2020, Oregon voters approved Ballot Measure 110, which decriminalized most drug possession in the state, converting possession of user amounts of controlled substances to criminal violations. In the five years preceding the passage of this ballot measure, there were over 21,000 felony and misdemeanor convictions for possession of controlled substances (PCS) in Oregon. Between February 2021, when the measure became effective, and November 2021, there were only 98 PCS convictions. While the impacts of Ballot Measure 110 will be varied and far reaching, the purpose of this panel will be to discuss the impacts drug decriminalization will have on the Oregon sentencing guidelines. First, researchers will discuss modeling that assesses the potential changes to the population of sentenced individuals within the state as this significant driver of criminal history scores vanishes from the criminal justice landscape. Second, researchers will also discuss the potential impact of retroactively removing PCS convictions from consideration when scoring the guidelines.
9:45 - 10:00 a.m.
Morning Break
Crystal Ballroom
10:00 - 11:15 a.m.
Break Out Sessions - Choose One
Brighton Room
B1/Community Corrections: State Approaches to Funding Supervision
Carl Reynolds, CSG
Jeremiah Stromberg, Assistant Director, Oregon Department of Corrections
In every state the largest population in the formal corrections system is people on probation at the “front end.” Keeping people accountable and providing programming in the community has the greatest potential for changing behavior and reducing recidivism, but attention and funding for the front end rarely matches its potential. Shrinking mass supervision is an extremely worthy goal but ensuring supervision works well is crucial for states to recognize and support with funding and policies that support evidence-based practices.
This session examines the way that seven states provide funding for “probation supervision” and “community corrections.” Pennsylvania and Minnesota have recently re-evaluated their funding approach through a Justice Reinvestment project and are unpacked in more detail. Some other states use a “performance incentive funding” approach based on reducing revocations; California's example is explored. Despite the importance of the topic, many states may be in a CCA holding pattern in which local innovation and state funding are fairly stagnant over time.
Oregon stands out in this group of states, for long upholding a state commitment to "know what it takes" (through workload analysis) to adequately fund local supervision, and for providing funding accordingly.
Cambridge/Oxford Room
B2/Keeping Families Together: Creating and Strengthening Family-Based Diversion and Sentencing Alternatives
Sandy F. Mullins, J.D., Co-Director, Family-Based Justice Center
Ken Sanchagrin, J.D., Ph.D., Executive Director, Oregon Criminal Justice Commission
Chris Chandler, Probation and Parole Services Manager, Washington County Community Corrections
Brooke Vice, Parole/Probation Supervisor-Justice Reinvestment, Washington County Community Corrections
Facilitator: Isabel Coronado, M.P.H, Coordinator, Family-Based Justice Center
Separation due to incarceration can cause trauma and long-lasting harm to children, their parents and caregivers, families, and communities. One in ten of this nation's children have a parent under criminal justice control—in jail or prison, or on probation or parole. Family-based diversion and alternative sentencing programs provide an opportunity to hold caregivers accountable and address their needs in the community, avoiding the negative impacts of separating families; yet only a handful of states and communities currently offer these sentencing alternatives. Incarceration disproportionately impacts Black, Hispanic and Native American families and these alternatives can mitigate this disparity and provide a more equitable and effective approach to community safety and well-being than traditional criminal justice responses.
This panel of experts will provide an overview of existing family-based alternatives and enabling legislation, research supporting the need for these alternatives, and suggestions for creating, expanding, and funding these options in your state.
The Family-Based Justice Center is funded through the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Programs (OJJDP) to provide technical and training assistance (TTA) to localities, states, and tribes developing and implementing family-based diversion and sentencing alternatives. OJJDP also offers funding opportunities to jurisdictions to support this work, which will also be discussed.
11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.
Lunch and Rick Kern Memorial Keynote Speaker
Crystal Ballroom
Kelly Mitchell, Executive Director, Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, University of Minnesota
12:45 - 2:00 p.m.
Plenary Session #P3: Curbing Extreme Sentences
Crystal Ballroom
Kelly Mitchell, Executive Director, Robina Law and Criminal Justice, University of Minnesota
Douglas Carver, Deputy Director, New Mexico Sentencing Commission
Jinwoo Park, Executive Director, District of Columbia Criminal Code Reform Commission
Moderator: Dr. Nazgol Ghandnoosh, Senior Research Analyst,The Sentencing Project
Convinced that excessively long prison terms are inhumane, costly, and counterproductive to public safety, the Sentencing Project is among a coalition of organizations that recommends limiting most prison terms to 20 years. Panelists will share their expertise on efforts to reduce lengthy prison terms through mechanisms such as reduced maximum sentences, second look reforms, and “degrees of indeterminacy” to shorten time served.
2:00 - 2:15 p.m.
Afternoon Break
Crystal Ballroom
2:15 - 3:30 p.m.
Break Out Sessions - Choose One
Cambridge/Oxford Room
B3/Voting Rights
Alex TsarkovAlex Tsarkov, Executive Director, Connecticut Sentencing Commission Panelists
Nicole Porter, Senior Director of Advocacy, The Sentencing Project
Zach Winston, Policy Director, Oregon Justice Resource Center
Moderator: Anna VanCleave, Connecticut Sentencing Commission, Associate Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law
The voting rights of people with felony convictions including those who are incarcerated is a controversial issue across the country. Advocates argue that ensuring access to the ballot for incarcerated citizens would mark a strong step towards racial justice. Felony disenfranchisement laws, a legacy of Jim Crow, coupled with complex procedures for voting for those behind bars, disproportionately exclude members of historically marginalized communities from the democratic process. In Maine, Vermont, Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. people convicted of felonies never lose their right to vote, even when incarcerated. The Connecticut Sentencing Commission has proposed legislation that would restore voting rights to people convicted of a felony with a possibility of release, and increase access to the ballot for incarcerated people. States across the country are having similar debates. The panel of experts and advocates will discuss that state of voting rights across different jurisdictions.
Brighton Room
B4/The Politics of Data Collection and Strategies for Success
Mark Bergstrom, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing
Susanne DiPietro, J.D., Executive Director, Alaska Judicial Council
Erin Harbinson, Ph.D., Director, Criminal Justice Research Institute, Hawaii
Hon. Gene Zmuda, Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals
Moderator: Niki Hotchkiss, Ph.D., Assistant Director, Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission
Criminal justice policy based on research and evidence is widely accepted as a best practice. However, a variety of political challenges may exist that make the collection and utilization of criminal justice data difficult, therefore hindering evidence-based efforts. The panelists will describe some of the specific challenges they faced—or are facing— in their states and share strategies used to create a method of data collection that can successfully overcome or accommodate these challenges. Topics addressed will include, among others, governance issues, parameters and the scope of the data collection system, integration with existing systems, and roadblocks to implementation.
Windsor Room
B5/Using Data & Collaboration to Develop State Parole Guidelines
Brett Miller, Research and Data Analysis Unit for the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing
Sentencing commissions are increasingly being asked to contribute to state court and correctional systems in areas that go beyond criminal sentencing policies. In recent years, the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing has been tasked with several non- sentencing related projects, including: pre-sentence risk assessments, pre-trial domestic violence risk assessments, and state parole guidelines, among others. This session will focus on the Commission's development of state parole guidelines as an example of how to incorporate stakeholder participation along with data-driven approaches to develop solutions in these new areas.
The parole guideline development process was very collaborative with the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole participating in the design and evaluation from the start. Development activities included a full-day retreat between Commission staff and the Board, Board Member interviews, surveys on the most important factors leading to parole, and public testimony from incarcerated individuals at multiple state correctional facilities.
A unique aspect of the proposed guidelines is that they include a scale to measure a parole candidate's "preparedness" for parole release and re-entry into the community. The preparedness scale includes many factors related to an individual's behavior during incarceration as well as subjective measures of the individual's readiness for community re-entry - as determined by Board Members during face-to-face parole interviews. Early data suggests that the preparedness scale is a better predictor of parole decisions and recidivism outcomes than the Board's current decisional instrument.
3:30 - 4:00 p.m.
All States Update Part II of II
Crystal Ballroom
Susanne DiPietro, J.D., Executive Director, Alaska Judicial Council
Short updates from members in states N-Z.
4:00 p.m.
Annual Membership Meeting: Elections, Bylaws Amendment, Other NASC Business
Crystal Ballroom
6:00 p.m.
Dinner on your own
Wednesday, August 10
7:00 a.m.
Breakfast
London Grill
7:30 - 8:00 a.m.
Conference Check-in
Lobby
8:00 - 9:00 a.m.
NASC Executive Committee Meeting
Regency Boardroom
NASC Exec Committee
9:00 - 10:15 a.m.
Plenary Session #P4: Comprehensive Review of Sentencing Guidelines in Pennsylvania and Washington
Crystal Ballroom
Mark H. Bergstrom, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing
Rhys Hester, JD, PhD, Clemson University
Matthew Kleiman, Ph.D., Deputy Director, Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing
Jon Tunheim, Prosecuting Attorney, Thurston County, Washington
Keri Ann Jetzer, Coordinator, Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission
Sentencing commissions regularly revise their sentencing guidelines in response to new legislation, court decisions, advancements in research knowledge, and in response to the monitoring of existing practices. These changes, though important, do not fundamentally alter the structure or rubric of the guidelines. However, it is important to periodically engage in a holistic review of the purpose and structure of the guidelines given the changing nature of criminal justice policies and practices and shifting expectations of the public and their elected officials. This panel will provide an overview of systematic reviews currently underway in Pennsylvania and in Washington state.
The Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing is currently engaged in an effort to comprehensively review their sentencing guidelines—the Commission’s first comprehensive review since 1994. The goals of the review are to streamline, simplify and automate the guidelines, and to promote fairer and more uniform sentences while ensuring the efficient and effective use of correctional resources. Panelists will discuss the motivation, the history, the foundation, and the goals of the review; the highly participatory and iterative review process (including the use of a data-driven, descriptive and a policy and practical, prescriptive approach to change); and an overview of the working draft of the guidelines, including redesign efforts aimed at reducing racial disparities, including proposals to extend lapsing policies and reduce the impact of criminal history on sentencing.
Panelists from Washington will briefly discuss the impetus for the review of its Sentencing Reform Act, talk about the creation of the body completing the review, its purpose and how it measured consensus on recommendations. Proposed recommendations will be noted, with a focus on those related to the sentencing grid. Panelists will also briefly talk about a 2021 State Supreme Court ruling that impacted this work.
10:30 - 11:45 a.m.
Break Out Sessions - Choose One
Brighton Room
B6/Cost of Incarceration: "Room and Board" Fees
Anna VanCleave, Connecticut Sentencing Commission, Associate Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law
Brittany Friedman, American Bar Foundation, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Southern California
Moderator: Alex Tsarkov, Executive Director, Connecticut Sentencing Commission
Most states have laws authorizing “room and board” fees for incarceration. While it is understandable that governments would look to recoup these correctional costs, advocates and scholars have long argued that it represents bad public policy. There have been recent reforms in some states aimed at eliminating states' ability to collect for the costs related to incarceration from formerly incarcerated people.
For example, in 2019, both New Hampshire and Illinois eliminated pay-to-stay statutes. This year the Connecticut Sentencing Commission and other advocates have proposed legislation that would eliminate cost-of-incarceration liens that target individuals who had received a settlement, an inheritance, or proceeds from a lawsuit settlement.
A panel of experts and practitioners will look at the historical and present-day practice of charging fees for costs related to incarceration, including relevant case law and recent policy changes across different jurisdictions.
Cambridge/Oxford Room
B7/Supervision of Probationers Who Have a Mental Illness: Research & Policy Implications
Tracy Velázquez, Senior Manager, Pew Charitable Trusts
Tonya VanDeinse, PhD, MSW, Research Associate Professor, UNC Chapel Hill School of Social Work
Veronica Cunningham, Executive Director and CEO, American Probation and Parole Association
A new publication by the Pew Charitable Trusts will shine a light on the high proportion of probationers who have a mental illness, and the limited accommodations and services available to these individuals. In this panel, we will present the findings of this research and the policy implications, such as: What should probation sentences and conditions look like for people with behavioral health issues? What are effective supervision strategies for this population, and did pandemic-driven changes to probation offer any innovations? And what sentencing alternatives exist that might have better health and safety outcomes? A question & answer period will allow for conference participants to share their experiences in addressing this important issue.
Windsor Room
B8/Five Years Later: Findings and Implications from Criminal Justice Reform in Alaska
Matt Claman, Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Alaska Criminal Justice Committee
Susanne DiPietro, J.D., Executive Director, Alaska Judicial Council
In 2016, Alaska's Legislature enacted sweeping criminal justice reform measures based on recommendations from the Alaska Criminal Justice Commission. Although the Legislature subsequently repealed many of the reforms, the Criminal Justice Commission has documented ongoing changes in the composition of the prison population, pretrial release practices, and probation supervision, among other things. This presentation explains these changes and analyzes how the reform measures interacted with substantial cuts to criminal justice agency budgets in the mid-teens, and the effects of the COVID pandemic restrictions.
Noon - 1:30 p.m.
Lunch
Crystal Ballroom
Katie Mosehauer, Program Director, State Initiatives, Council of State Governments Justice Counts Center
Learn about Justice Counts, this coalition-driven national initiative to improve criminal justice system data. Learn about the recently released consensus-based metrics for seven criminal justice sectors, the tools and infrastructure that will help agencies and states share this data, the initiatives vision for how this data can be used by policymakers at all levels, and the opportunities to get involved.

Commission Contacts


Alabama Sentencing Commission
Bennet Wright, Executive Director
Phone: (334) 954-5099, Fax: (334)954-5201
300 Dexter Avenue, Suite 2-230
Montgomery, AL 36104-3741
Alaska Judicial Council
Susanne DiPietro, J.D., Executive Director
Phone: (907) 279-2526
510 L Street, Suite 450
Anchorage, Alaska 99501-1295
Arkansas Sentencing Commission
Lindsay Wallace, J.D, Director
Phone: (501) 682-5001, Fax: (501)682-5018
101 E. Capitol, Suite 470
Little Rock, AR 72201
Connecticut Sentencing Commission
Alex Tsarkov, Executive Director
Phone: (860) 832-1852, Fax: (860)832-0071
185 Main Street, Room 212
New Britain, CT 06051-2296
Delaware Sentencing Accountability Commission
Romie Griesmer, J.D.
Phone: (302) 577-8962
Criminal Justice Council
820 N. French Street, 10th Floor
Wilmington, DE 19801
DC Sentencing Commission
Barbara Tombs-Souvey, Executive Director
Phone: (202) 727-8821, Fax: (202)727-7929
441 4th Street, NW, Suite #430
Washington, DC 20001
Nevada Department of Sentencing Policy
Victoria Gonzalez, Executive Director
Phone: (755) 684-7390
625 Fairview Dr., Suite 121
Carson City, NV 89701-5430
New Mexico Sentencing Commission
Linda Freeman, Executive Director
Phone: (505) 277-3494
MSC02-1625 ISR
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
North Carolina Sentencing & Policy Advisory Commission
Michelle L. Hall, Executive Director
Phone: (919) 890-1470, Fax: (919)890-1933
North Carolina Judicial Center
PO Box 2448
Raleigh, NC 27602-2448
Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission
Sara Andrews, Executive Director
Phone: (614) 387-9311, Fax: (614)387-9309
Supreme Court of Ohio
65 South Front Street, 5th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215-3431
Oregon Criminal Justice Commission
Ken Sanchagrin, Executive Director
Phone: (503) 602-0640, Fax: (503)986-4574
885 Summer St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing
Mark H. Bergstrom, Executive Director
Phone: (814) 863-2797, Fax: (814)863-2129
PO Box 1200
State College, PA 16804-1200
Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council
Kathy Saltmarsh, Executive Director
Phone: (217) 558-4749
401 South Spring, Suite 617
Springfield, IL 62706
Kansas Sentencing Commission
Scott M. Schultz, Executive Director
Phone: (785) 296-0923, Fax: (785-296-0927
700 SW Jackson, Suite 501
Topeka, KS 66603
Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy
David Soule, Executive Director
Phone: (301) 403-2707, Fax: (301)403-4164
University of Maryland
4511 Knox Road, Suite 309
College Park, MD 20742
Massachusetts Sentencing Commission
Lee Kavanagh, Director of Research and Planning
Phone: (617) 788-6887, Fax (617)788-6885
John Adams Courthouse
One Pemberton Square - G300
Boston, MA 02108
Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission
Nathaniel J. Reitz, Executive Director
Phone: (651) 296-0144
658 Cedar Street, Suite G-58
Saint Paul, MN 55155-1603
Missouri Sentencing Advisory Commission
Logan Schulte, Court Services Management Analyst
Phone: (573) 522-6764
P.O. Box 104480
Jefferson City, MO 65110
Utah Sentencing Commission
Monica Diaz, Director
Phone: (801) 538-1031, Fax: (801)538-1024
State Capitol Complex, Senate Building Suite 330
PO Box 142330
Salt Lake City, UT 84114-2330
Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission
Meredith Farrar-Owens, Director
Phone: (804) 371-7626, Fax: (804)786-3934
100 N. 9th Street, 5th Floor
Richmond, VA 23219
Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission, Office of Financial Management
Keri-Anne Jetzer, Coordinator
Phone: (360) 902-0425
P.O. Box 43124
Olympia, WA 98504-3124
West Virginia Sentencing Commission
Ronni M. Sheets, Chair
Phone: (304) 419-3667
1124 Smith Street, Suite 3100
Charleston, West Virginia 25301-1323
United States Sentencing Commission
Ken Cohen, Staff Director
Phone: (202) 502-4500, Fax: (202)502-4699
One Columbus Circle, NE
Suite 2-500
Washington, DC 20002-8002

Speakers


Mark H. Bergstrom, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing
Mark H. Bergstrom is the executive director of the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing. The Commission is a legislative, criminal justice agency responsible for the development and adoption of guidelines for sentencing, resentencing, parole, and recommitment, and for monitoring compliance with these and other statutory provisions. Mr. Bergstrom is also an Associate Teaching Professor of Sociology & Criminology at The Pennsylvania State University, Adjunct Professor of Law at the Duquesne University School of Law, and an Adjunct Faculty at the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. He is the 2019 recipient of the Richard P. Kern Memorial Award, presented by the National Association of Sentencing Commissions for contributions to the development of sentencing policy and research.
Christopher M. Campbell, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Portland State University
Dr. Campbell obtained his PhD in criminology and criminal justice from Washington State University. His work emphasizes the compilation of basic and applied research to generate cumulative knowledge for the sake of improving the justice system with a base of empirical evidence. The majority of his work consists of evaluating policy and practice in sentencing as well as community and institutional correctional strategies among adult and juvenile populations. Other work Dr. Campbell has conducted involves being a consultant for the U.S. Department of Justice regarding racial bias in policing, policing use of force analyses, examining Oregon pretrial processes, offender risk assessment creation and validation, as well as the impact of sentencing on recidivism. He also routinely works as a consultant and expert witness for various state legislatures, and departments of correction for evaluation research and to help determine best practices.
Douglas Hughes Carver, Deputy Director, New Mexico Sentencing Commission
Douglas Hughes Carver is the Deputy Director of the New Mexico Sentencing Commission. He previously led a nonprofit focused on government ethics and served as a staff attorney for the New Mexico Legislature in the areas of criminal justice and government ethics. Mr. Carver holds a B.A. from Yale University, an M.Phil. from Trinity College Dublin, and a J.D. from the University of New Mexico School of Law.
Chris Chandler, Probation and Parole Services Manager, Washington County Community Corrections
Chris Chandler is a Probation and Parole Services Manager at Washington County Community Corrections, located in Hillsboro, Oregon. Chris has worked in juvenile and adult corrections for over 15 years and holds a Master of Public Administration Degree from Portland State University.
Matt Claman, Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Alaska Criminal Justice Committee
Matt Claman first came to Alaska in 1980. After graduating from law school, Matt returned to Alaska to make his home, raise his family, and establish his career. Matt was elected to the Alaska State House in November 2014 and has been serving since January 2015. Matt currently serves as the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee. Prior to service in the State House, Matt served on the Anchorage Assembly beginning in 2007, was elected Chair of the Anchorage Assembly in 2008, and served as the Acting Mayor of Anchorage in 2009. An attorney for over 30 years, Matt managed his own small law business for over 11 years, taught law classes at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and was elected to the Board of Governors of the Alaska Bar Association in 2002, serving as President of the Board in 2007-08.
Isabel Coronado, M.P.H, Family-Based Justice Center
Isabel Coronado, is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation and a current Research Scholar in the Litmus program at NYU's Marron Institute where she coordinates the Family-Based Justice Center, a national technical assistance center that helps local counties, states, and Tribal nations create programs to keep families together through comprehensive services instead of sending parents/primary caregivers to prison. Prior to joining NYU, she participated in the Next100 cohort as a Policy Entrepreneur, where she researched, advocated, and wrote an original policy proposal on behalf of children who experience parental incarceration. Prior to that, she served as the Deputy Director of the American Indian Criminal Justice Navigation Council, where she led the development of a new non-profit in Oklahoma serving incarcerated Native American people during reentry and reconnecting them to their families and Tribal communities. Isabel was selected by the Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute as a 2018 Champions for Change recipient, Mvskoke Women's Leadership as the 2019 College Student of the Year, and by Mvskoke Youth Council as the 2020 Youth Visionary in promoting civic engagement. Isabel received her BS in 2017 from Northeastern State University, and her master's of public health with an emphasis on rural and underserved populations from Oklahoma State University in 2019.
Veronica Ballard Cunningham, Executive Director and CEO, American Probation and Parole Association
Veronica Ballard Cunningham has been the Executive Director and CEO of the American Probation and Parole Association since 2016. She leads operations and supports the strategic direction of the professional membership association. Ms. Cunningham served as a justice system practitioner and reentry professional, and executive for more than 30 years. She held the top leadership position in two of the largest community corrections agencies in America - The Texas Department of Criminal Justice/Parole and the Cook County Adult Probation Department in Chicago. Ms. Cunningham has a master's degree in Criminal Justice from Louisiana State University.
Susanne DiPietro, J.D., Executive Director, Alaska Judicial Council
Susanne DiPietro is the Executive Director of the Alaska Judicial Council. Before coming to the Judicial Council, she worked as the Judicial Education Coordinator for the Alaska Court System. Ms. DiPietro received her J.D. from Northwestern University in Chicago and is a Fellow of the National Center for State Courts' Institute for Court Management. She is the author of a number of reports and articles on criminal and civil litigation and has served as staff to Alaska Criminal Justice Commission. She has worked as a consultant to the court systems in Albania and Mongolia.
Brittany Friedman, American Bar Foundation, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Southern California
Dr. Brittany Friedman is a sociologist of punishment and social control at the University of Southern California and Faculty Affiliate of the Sol Price Center for Social Innovation and the Equity Research Institute. She is a 2021-2022 American Bar Foundation/JPB Foundation Access to Justice Faculty Scholar, examining the relationship between legal representation, pay-to-stay, and civil recoupment strategies. Her ABF/JPB project is titled "Pay-to-Stay as a Civil Justice Crisis: How Civil Lawsuits Against Incarcerated People for the Cost of Incarceration Deepen Socioeconomic Inequality." With Dr. April Fernandes and Dr. Gabriela Kirk, she is Co-PI of "The Comparative Study of Pay-to-Stay." Her first book, which is under contract with The University of North Carolina Press in their Justice, Power, and Politics special series, is tentatively titled, Born in Blood, a highly anticipated book that traces how racist control strategies were institutionalized and designed to eradicate Black political protest and the implications for contemporary prison order and racial inequality in U.S. prisons. Friedman is also Co-PI with Dr. Paul Hirshfield and Alexis Karteron, J.D. of an ongoing project examining the impact of Covid-19 policymaking on U.S. prison conditions.
Nazgol Ghandnoosh, Senior Research Analyst,The Sentencing Project
Nazgol Ghandnoosh is a senior research analyst at the Sentencing Project, a national nonprofit working for a fair and effective criminal justice system, where she has written about the declining prospects for parole on life sentences, racial perceptions of crime, and best practices for eliminating racial inequality in the criminal justice system. Dr. Ghandnoosh regularly presents to academic, practitioner, and general audiences, and her work has been featured in national media outlets. She earned a B.S. at the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Erin Harbinson, PhD, Executive Director, Criminal Justice Research Institute, The Judiciary - State of Hawaii
Erin Harbinson is the executive director of the Criminal Justice Research Institute (CJRI), which is administratively attached to the Office of the Chief Justice in the Hawaii Judiciary. CJRI was established out of recommendations for criminal pretrial reform in the state, and is authorized to study all aspects of the criminal justice system. A current priority is creating a statewide centralized criminal pretrial data reporting system, which will link data sources across statewide agencies. Prior to joining CJRI, Dr. Harbinson was a research scholar for the Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice at the University of Minnesota Law School where she led research projects studying probation and parole policies in partnership with community corrections agencies. She has worked as a policy analyst for the Council of State Governments Justice Center conducting technical assistance for states implementing justice reinvestment legislation. She received her PhD in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati and worked for the University of Cincinnati Corrections Institute. While there, she conducted trainings on risk assessment and evaluated programs for adherence to evidence-based practices for correctional agencies across the country.
Rhys Hester, JD, PhD, Clemson University
Rhys Hester, JD, PhD, is a professor at Clemson University where he teaches Criminal Law, Courts, and Justice Administration. His research focuses on judicial decisionmaking, sentencing, and risk assessment. He is the former deputy director of the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing and is currently working with the Commission to support its proposal for revisions to the guidelines. Dr. Hester is also a contractor for the National Institute of Justice on a project related to the review and revalidation of the PATTERN risk assessment tool. Hester previously held positions as Associate Research Professor at Penn State University and Research Fellow at the University of Minnesota Law School. His research has been published in leading journals in the field of criminology and criminal justice, including Criminology, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, and Crime and Justice: A Review of Research.
Niki Hotchkiss, Ph.D., Assistant Director, Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission
Niki Hotchkiss is the Assistant Director of Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission. Previously, she held the position of Research Specialist with the Commission and has been designing research and analyzing data related to criminal sentencing and court operations since 2016. Prior to her work with courts, Niki was a faculty member at Kenyon College and Washington College, teaching courses such as Criminology, Research Methods, and Sociology of Law. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology and Public Affairs from the University of Denver and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from Indiana University, Bloomington.
Keri-Anne Jetzer, Coordinator, Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission
Keri-Anne Jetzer received a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Lakeland College in Wisconsin in 1998 and a Master's Degree in Criminal Justice from Washington State University in 2001. That same year she started her career in the criminal justice field working as a researcher at the Washington State Department of Corrections. In 2007, she became a research investigator with the Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission. The state legislature eliminated the SGC as an independent agency in 2011 and moved its policy portion to the Office of Financial Management, at which time Keri- Anne moved into her current position as the SGC Coordinator.
Matthew Kleiman, Ph.D., Deputy Director, Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing
Matthew Kleiman, Ph.D., is the Deputy Director of the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing and an Associate Research Professor with the Department of Sociology and Criminology at The Pennsylvania State University. His research focuses on the development of risk assessment tools for use at pretrial release and at sentencing, the development of guidelines to inform parole decisions, and the evaluation of sentencing alternatives. Additionally, his work has focused on the development of resource assessment models for courts, program evaluation, the implementation of court specific performance measures, and improving the rule of law.
Brett Miller, Research and Data Analysis Unit for the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing
Brett Miller is the manager of the Research and Data Analysis Unit for the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing. He oversees the Commission's data management, preparation and dissemination of sentencing data reports, and response to requests for data and legislative impact analyses. He has been with the Commission for 5 years and has contributed to the development of parole decisional guidelines, the 8th edition of Pennsylvania's sentencing guidelines, and a series of simulation models to project prison populations and sentencing decisions. Prior to joining the Commission, Brett worked in the defense, aerospace, and manufacturing industries in reliability and quality engineering. He received a Master of Science degree in Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering from the University of Illinois.
Kelly Lyn Mitchell, Executive Director, Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, University of Minnesota
Kelly Mitchell has dedicated her career to sentencing policy and research. She is currently the Executive Director of the Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice at the University of Minnesota Law School where she is the co-director of the Sentencing Guideline Resource Center. Ms. Mitchell was appointed Chair of the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission in 2019 where she spearheaded an effort to undertake a systematic review of the commission's policies for racial impact. She served as President of the National Association of Sentencing Commissions from 2014 to 2017.
Prior to joining the Robina Institute, Mitchell was the Executive Director of the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission from 2011 to 2014, and worked as a staff attorney and manager for the Minnesota Judicial Branch from 2001-2011, where she served as the Branch's liaison to other criminal justice agencies and was responsible for several statewide programs and services such as drug courts, the court interpreter program, and examiner services for sex offender civil commitment exams. Mitchell also provided legal support to trial court judges and court administrators on issues ranging from criminal and juvenile delinquency law to court records access and fines and fees in the criminal justice system. She also provided legal support for several Minnesota Supreme Court rules and policy committees, and in this role led efforts to fully revise the Minnesota Rules of Criminal Procedure and the Minnesota Juvenile Delinquency Rules of Procedure.
Over the course of her career, Mitchell has held numerous appointments on committees and task forces on issues such as prison population control, probation supervision, sex offender management, and collateral consequences. She continues to work with states interested in adopting or revising their sentencing guidelines and lend her expertise to criminal justice agencies at the local, state, and federal level. There are few people that can rival Ms. Mitchell's contributions and the diversity of ways she has served this field.
Ms. Mitchell earned her JD from the University of North Dakota Law School, and has a master's in public policy from the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs.
Katie Mosehauer, Program Director, State Initiatives, Council of State Governments Justice Counts Center
Katie Mosehauer is a program director helping The Council of State Governments Justice Center in conceptualizing and constructing new projects and publications that help advance the criminal justice field in using data to drive increase the use of evidence-based practices and improve criminal justice system outcomes for individuals and communities. Katie currently leads the Justice Counts initiative and comes to this role with more than 20 years of experience leading non-profits and developing coalition-based social impact policy that improves the lives of Black, Indiginous, and people of color in issues ranging from national elections to childhood nutrition and education to reentry.
Sandy F. Mullins, J.D., Co-Director, Family-Based Justice Center
Sandy Mullins has over two decades of experience in policymaking, including as the Director of the Office of Executive Policy of the Washington State Department of Corrections and Senior Policy Advisor on Public Safety and Government Operations to the Governor of Washington, where her portfolio included criminal and juvenile justice and victim services. Ms. Mullins served as the Executive Director of the Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission and Sex Offender Policy Board. Prior to her work in Washington, she served as the Executive Director of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, which works with its partners to improve criminal- and juvenile-justice processes and outcomes through legislative reform.
Kelly Officer, Research Director, Oregon Criminal Justice Commission
Kelly Officer joined the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission (CJC) in 2010, and has served as the Research Director since January 2021. She has an MS in Statistics and extensive experience analyzing criminal justice data as well as evaluating program effectiveness and criminal justice performance measures. Mrs. Officer works on a wide variety of projects for the Oregon CJC, as she is the lead on fiscal analyses related to proposed legislation, conducts analyses on Oregon traffic stop data, and conducts analyses on multi-agency projects where the CJC partners with other criminal justice system agencies within the state.
Jinwoo Charles Park, Executive Director, District of Columbia Criminal Code Reform Commission
Jinwoo Charles Park is the Executive Director of the District of Columbia Criminal Code Reform Commission, an advisory body that provides legal and policy analysis of proposed legislation and best practices concerning criminal offenses, procedures, and reforms to the D.C. government. Mr. Park personally drafted many of the provisions included in a proposed set of comprehensive revisions to the District's criminal code. Mr. Park earned a B.A. at the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. at Georgetown University.
Nicole D. Porter, Senior Director of Advocacy, The Sentencing Project
Named a "New Civil Rights Leader" by Essence Magazine for her work to challenge mass incarceration, Nicole D. Porter manages The Sentencing Project's state and local advocacy efforts on sentencing reform, voting rights, and confronting racial disparities in the criminal legal system. Since joining The Sentencing Project in 2009, Porter's advocacy and findings have supported criminal legal reforms in several states including Kentucky, Maryland Missouri, California, Texas and the District of Columbia.
Carl Reynolds, Senior Legal and Policy Advisor, Council of State Governments Justice Center
Carl Reynolds helps manage and develop projects related to courts, corrections, law enforcement, and sentencing. He works on Justice Reinvestment and other projects where expert legal and policy research is needed. He has worked on justice reinvestment projects in states including West Virginia, Michigan, Washington, Rhode Island, Montana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kansas, and Minnesota.
Prior to joining CSG, Carl served as Director of the Texas Office of Court Administration. From 1993 to 2005, he was General Counsel for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), the agency responsible for prisons, probation, and parole, and the Texas Board of Criminal Justice-the governing body for TDCJ. Prior to that position, he was the Executive Director of the Texas Punishment Standards Commission, General Counsel to the Texas Senate Committee on Criminal Justice, director of the Senate's redistricting staff, and a Briefing Attorney for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
Carl holds a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law, an M.A. from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, and a B.A. from the University of Cincinnati.
Ken Sanchagrin, J.D., Ph.D., Executive Director, Oregon Criminal Justice Commission
Ken Sanchagrin is the Executive Director of the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission. Prior to becoming the Commission's director, Ken served as its Director of Research, overseeing the implementation of the Oregon Statistical Transparency of Policing (STOP) Program as well as the associated research examining STOP data and the creation of numerous statistical reports examining sentencing, recidivism, and other criminal justice system policy issues in Oregon. Before joining the Commission, Ken was an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Appalachian State University, where he taught courses in criminology, criminal punishment, law, and statistics. He also authored peer reviewed journal articles on topics such as juvenile delinquency, the economic impact of prison building, and statistical methods. Originally from southern Appalachia, he has a PhD and master’s degree in sociology from the University of Iowa, a juris doctor degree from Michigan State University, and a BA in history from the College of Charleston.
Mike Schmidt, District Attorney, Multnomah County
Mike Schmidt was elected Multnomah County District Attorney in May 2020. He was appointed by Oregon's governor to begin his term several months early when the former district attorney retired. He took office August 1, 2020.
The Multnomah County District Attorney's Office (MCDA) is comprised of approximately 75 attorneys and 100 administrative staff. DA Schmidt is leading the office through highly unusual and difficult circumstances created by the response to the COVID pandemic. The drastic reduction in court operations between May 2020 and the spring of 2022 MCDA led to a case backlog; caseloads are at an all-time high. Other challenges include addressing more than 500 cases resulting from the protests for racial justice in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, an increase in gun violence, and inadequate social supports to address housing, addiction and mental illness concerns of Multnomah County residents.
While managing these challenges, DA Schmidt has advanced work to make the criminal legal system more equitable and reduce collateral impacts while holding criminals accountable for their actions. He created a Justice Integrity Unit at MCDA, which is handling clemency, resentencing and expungement requests. He contributed to a new court to divert certain cases from traditional punishment systems. He brought in outside oversight for a police excessive force claim. He launched several public-facing dashboards to make MCDA's work transparent. A number of MCDA policies have been revised in such areas as cash bail and cases involving undocumented persons. He has formed a partnership with Oregon Health Sciences University to help MCDA take a public health approach to gun violence. DA Schmidt has opened the office to community guidance, forming a community advisory committee.
Jeremiah Stromberg, Assistant Director, Oregon Department of Corrections
Jeremiah Stromberg is the Assistant Director of the Community Corrections Division for the Oregon Department of Corrections. Since 2012, he has governed the funding, legislation, policies, and practices of parole and probation supervision for the State of Oregon; oversees program evaluations and custodial inspections; and provides training and technical assistance to Oregon's 36 counties. Since 2018, he has served as the National Chair of the Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision.
From 2009 - 2013 he served on the Oregon Board of Parole and Post Prison Supervision, first as the Executive Director and finally as a Member of the Board. His criminal justice career began with Multnomah County Department of Community Justice where from 1997 - 2009 he worked between the juvenile and adult divisions, overseeing a variety of specialized supervision units.
Alex Tsarkov, Executive Director, Connecticut Sentencing Commission
As Director, Alex Tsarkov assists the Commission in its mission to review pre-trial and sentencing policies and make policy recommendations to the General Assembly and the Governor.
Prior to joining the Commission, Mr. Tsarkov worked for the Judicial Branch Court Support Services Division (JB-CSSD) as a Court Planner for two years. Prior to JB-CSSD, he worked at the Connecticut General Assembly from 2007 to 2013.
Mr. Tsarkov holds a Master of Public Policy degree from Trinity College and is a graduate of the University of Connecticut School of Law.
Jon Tunheim, Prosecuting Attorney, Thurston County, Washington
After earning his Bachelor's Degree in Physics at South Dakota State University, Jon Tunheim moved to Washington to attend law school at the University of Puget Sound School of Law. In 1990, after he was admitted to the practice of law, he was immediately appointed as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for Thurston County. Jon was named Chief Deputy in 2003, serving the office in that capacity until elected Prosecuting Attorney in 2010. He has served on the Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission since 2015 and is currently one of three co-chairs of the Criminal Sentencing Task Force, which is has been leading the comprehensive review of the state's Sentencing Reform Act since 2019.
Anna VanCleave, Director of the Criminal Defense Clinic and Associate Professor of Law
Anna VanCleave directs the Criminal Defense Clinic, which represents individuals facing the loss of liberty in Connecticut state courts. She worked as a public defender in Washington, D.C., and in Louisiana and has represented children and adults in both non-capital and capital cases at the trial and appellate levels and in post-conviction proceedings. She was the chief of the Capital Division of the Orleans Public Defenders from 2014 to 2016. Before joining UConn, Professor VanCleave was a research scholar and the director of the Liman Center at Yale Law School, where she co-taught seminar courses on poverty and inequality in legal systems and the criminal justice system, experiential research projects, and the Capital Punishment Clinic. She received her law degree from NYU School of Law, where she was a Root-Tilden-Kern Public Interest Scholar, and was a Forrester Teaching Fellow at Tulane Law School.
Tonya Van Deinse, PhD, MSW, Research Associate Professor, UNC Chapel Hill School of Social Work
Tonya Van Deinse, PhD, MSW, is a research associate professor at the UNC Chapel Hill School of Social Work and a mental health services researcher focused on the development, implementation, and evaluation of interventions that span the mental health and criminal justice systems. Dr. Van Deinse's current research projects focus on approaches to probation for adults with mental illnesses, using implementation science to enhance the uptake of specialty mental health probation, implementing and evaluating integrated re-entry programming for adults with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders exiting county detention, and evaluating the implementation and efficacy of data-driven supervision guidelines for probation.
Tracy Velázquez, Senior Manager, Pew Charitable Trusts
Tracy Velázquez is the senior manager for research for Pew's public safety performance and mental health and justice projects. Her team produces and publishes analyses of jail, community supervision, and juvenile justice and crisis response systems. Before joining Pew, Velázquez served in research and policy positions for several national and state criminal justice reform and health policy organizations and as a consultant to local, state, and federal governments. She holds a bachelor's degree with honors from Harvard University, a master's degree in justice, law, and criminology from American University, and a master of public administration from Montana State University.
Brooke Vice, Parole/Probation Supervisor-Justice Reinvestment, Washington County Community Corrections
Brooke Vice, MSW, (she/her/hers), began her career with Washington County Community Corrections as a Parole and Probation Officer in 2005 after gaining her Master of Social Work degree from Colorado State University. In 2016, Brooke served as the Training & Development Supervisor within the Parole & Probation Division and went on to supervise the division's Sex Crimes unit. She currently supervises the department's Justice Reinvestment programs to include Integrative Re-entry Intensive Supervision Services (IRISS), IRISS Prevention, Family Sentencing Alternative Pilot (FSAP), Drug Court, and Veterans Treatment Court. Brooke is a local and national presenter, more recently presenting on the topics of Implementation Science and Inter-Rater Reliability for the American Parole and Probation Association. She has served as instructor for Oregon's Department of Public Safety Standards Training Academy and has served as Co-Chair for the Statewide Assessment and Case Management Network. Brooke enjoys program development emphasizing utilization of trauma informed practices and the centering of equity, diversity, and inclusion for justice involved individuals and their families.
Zach Winston, Policy Director, Oregon Justice Resource Center
Zach graduated from Western Connecticut State University with his B.S. in Justice and Law Administration and received his Juris Doctor from Lewis & Clark Law School. During law school, Zach worked on several projects with OJRC including the Oregon Innocence Project. After law school, Zach joined Mark C. Cogan, P.C., where he practiced criminal defense. He represented clients on misdemeanors, Measure 11 charges, DHS investigations, and expungement. Most recently, Zach worked at The Pathfinder Network's Center for Family Success as a Family Advocate/Facilitator, where he facilitated groups for justice-involved parents and advocated for marginalized individuals.
Zach is formerly incarcerated and uses his firsthand experiences to inform his work around criminal justice reform.
Hon. Gene Zmuda, Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals
Gene A. Zmuda was elected to the Sixth District Court of Appeals in November 2018. He previously served as Administrative and Presiding Judge for the Sixth District. Prior to serving on the appellate court, Judge Zmuda served as a judge of the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas, General Trial Division, in Toledo, Ohio, beginning in 2006. He served as Administrative Judge in 2012 and 2017-2018 and as Presiding Judge in 2013. In December 2008, the Ohio Supreme Court appointed Judge Zmuda to serve as one of two Commercial Docket judges for Lucas County, and he continued to serve in that position until 2018. Prior to his service on the common pleas bench, Judge Zmuda served as judge for the Toledo Municipal Court from 2003 to 2006, and in private practice for 19 years up until his service on the bench. Judge Zmuda is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association; the Ohio Judicial Conference, Executive Committee and co-chair, Civil Law Committee; Trustee of the Ohio Judicial College; and presently serve as chair of the governance board for the Ohio State Data Project; chair of the Task Force on Conviction Integrity and Postconviction Review; and co-chair of the Interbranch Affairs Committee for the Council of State Goverments and member of its leadership council. Judge Zmuda is as an adjunct professor at the University of Toledo College of Law and Undergraduate Honors College, and has served as President of the University of Toledo Honors College Alumni Affiliate. He received his BA from the University of Toledo, and his JD from University of Toledo College of Law.

Portland Center City Map



Area Restaurants
Palm Court
Located in the lobby of the Benson Hotel
309 SW Broadway
503.228.2000
El Gaucho, Located off the lobby of the Benson Hotel
319 SW Broadway
503.227.8794
Independent Sports Bar & Restaurant
225 SW Broadway
503.206.6745
Pacific Crust Pizza Company
400 SW Broadway
503.719.5010
Portland City Grill
111 SW 11th Avenue, 30th Floor
503.450.0030
St. Honore Boulangerie
501 SW Broadway
503.954.3049
Cheryls on 12th
1135 Washington St
503.595.2252
Pastini
911 SW Taylor St
Southpark Seafood
901 SW Salmon Street
503.326.1300
Thai Peacock
219 SW 9th Ave
Portland Food Carts
Numerous locations around the city with the closest 1.5 blocks from the Hotel. There is a variety of options including, Chinese, Thai, Pizza, Sandwich Wraps, Mexican, etc.
Local Transportation Companies
Eco Shuttles & Tours
503.548.4480
Eagle Shuttle LLC
503.515.3111
Lucky Limousine & Towncar Service
503.254.0010
Aspen Limo & Tours
503.274.9505
JMI Limousine Service
503.643.6404
Blue Star Transportation Group
503.249.1837
Recommended by FlyPDX.com
Ambassador Transportation
503.422.1982
Busliner LLC
425.346.5332
MTR Western
503.473.8656
National Luxury Coach, LLC . 503.336.1196
NW Bus Tours . 360.241.1353
NW Navigator LLC . 503.285.3000
Oregon Tour Experts, LLC . 503.896.2464
Viewpoint Coachlines, LLC . 503.703.6523
VIP PDX
503.348.3233


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