City of St. Louis Executes Intergovernmental Cooperative Agreement

St. Louis formalized its Criminal Justice Coordinating Council this week when Mayor Lyda Krewson executed the Intergovernmental Cooperative Agreement on behalf of the City of St. Louis, including all its essential justice agencies. Other participating agencies in the St. Louis Criminal Justice Coordinating Council and parties to the Intergovernmental Cooperative Agreement include, the Twenty-Second Judicial Circuit Court, the Sheriff, the Circuit Attorney, the Missouri State Public Defender and the Missouri Department of Corrections.

The St. Louis Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, the first of its kind in Missouri and the region, will be only the third in the country to develop data exchanges to cross-collaborate between criminal justice organizations and the public health sector. The Council is poised to execute an Intergovernmental Information Sharing Agreement among the parties setting national precedent.

“We’ve ushered in impressive changes over the past year and half through the CJCC’s hard working committees and working groups. It is our shared vision to implement policies and practices that improve the whole local criminal justice system, and to utilize resources, treatments and services that meet the needs of the population we serve. Execution of the Intergovernmental Cooperative Agreement and adoption of Bylaws holds the CJCC accountable for utilizing taxpayer dollars properly, complying with legal boundaries, and innovating to make a real difference for the community” said Debbie J. Allen, Interim Executive Director of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council and Executive Adviser to the Mayor.  “We’ve had tremendous support from our local, state and national partners in this process including the Missouri State Highway Patrol, which is responsible for ensuring proper handling of criminal justice information in the State of Missouri” Allen added. 

The St. Louis Criminal Justice Coordinating Council has continued to meet virtually during the COVID- 19 pandemic to plan for long-term resilience and recovery.

The Council was authorized by the City of St. Louis Board of Aldermen by Ordinance 71012 on July 12, 2019, which was signed by the Mayor and became effective on August 26, 2019, with the stated purpose to ensure the fair administration of criminal and juvenile justice by increasing effective communication, collaboration and planning; and, to improve the criminal and juvenile justice systems’ operation through effective data collection, sharing and analysis crosscutting the local criminal and public health system.

Related Resources

• FUSE Corps Fellowship Interim Project Status Report - May 2020