BATON ROUGE, La. — Next week, Governor Edwards will hold a series of events to mark the five-year anniversary of bipartisan criminal justice reform becoming law. The Governor’s Office will also run a social media campaign to celebrate the progress made five years in, using the hashtag #CJR5.

Many of the 10 bills of the criminal justice reform package took effect five years ago on November 1, 2017.

The Governor’s events will highlight the substantial funding for crime prevention and victims services generated by criminal justice reform—funding known as Justice Re-Investment. Five years in, more than $100 million has been invested in victims services and proven crime prevention and anti-recidivism programs. The Governor will also discuss how bipartisan criminal justice reform re-oriented our criminal justice system to focus resources on violent crime—right when Louisiana has needed it most amid a national rise in violent crime following the COVID pandemic.

On Monday, he will visit an organization that is using JRI funding to help victims of domestic violence. On Wednesday, he will visit with a prominent faith-based charity that uses JRI funding to prevent crime by helping recently released offenders get the help they need to successfully re-enter society. And on Thursday, he will visit with a non-profit focused on parole and probation.

At each event, he will speak with public safety officials and those affected by criminal justice reform and re-investment, to hear first-hand how beneficial this effort has been for them—and also what can be done going forward to improve things.

For security reasons, logistical details will not be released until the day prior to each event, in the Governor’s regular public schedule.