Criminal Justice Coordinating Council

Katy Fitzgerald comes to Douglas County from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, where she was a management analyst in the Criminal Justice Services Department since January 2014. In her role with the Criminal Justice Services Department, Fitzgerald has served as a grant writer and recipient, a project manager for several cross-system reform initiatives, a data analyst for the Department and external justice system partners, and as staff to the local criminal justice coordinating council.

Through various grant awards, Katy has: led the development of online training modules in pretrial justice and implicit bias topics; worked closely with Juvenile Justice officials to implement the Reclaiming Futures model, which resulted in an almost three-fold increase in the number of juvenile justice involved youth who received behavioral health screenings; and managed a Driver License Restoration Clinic, which provided indigent residents with legal assistance to reinstate their driving privileges.

Since 2018, Katy worked in pretrial release or detain decisions and bail policy space, facilitating a work group of criminal justice executives to revise and monitor the implementation of the local bail policy, focusing on the elimination of bail schedules, an expansion of pretrial supervision eligibility, a reduced use of financial release conditions, and improved access to defense counsel prior to first appearances.

As Senior Data Analyst, Matt Cravens supports the work of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. Cravens, who grew up in Lawrence, brings a significant amount of experience to the position. He previously worked as a statistician for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services in Washington, D.C. While there, he analyzed and provided reports on immigration data. He collaborated with field officers and leadership and helped develop guidelines and performance measures.

He also has worked as a senior associate in research for the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Public Safety Performance Project, where he conducted analysis on public safety, juvenile placements, adult incarceration and policy reforms. For about three years, he was a visiting assistant professor and postdoctoral research associate at Dartmouth College’s Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences. Cravens has received a bachelor’s degree and doctoral degree in political science.