Birth of PJI

In 1976, the US Department of Justice funded the establishment of the Pretrial Services Resource Center (PSRC), now called the Pretrial Justice Institute (PJI).  The NAPSA Board of Directors, responding to a 1975 survey by the National Center for State Courts that showed that 91 percent of pretrial program directors felt a need for further training and technical assistance for themselves and their staffs, submitted a proposal to the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration for the funding of an entity that could provide such assistance.  The proposal was funded and we were incorporated on December 2, 1976, opening our doors on March 1, 1977. 

As stated in its Articles of Incorporation, we were founded “…to promote research and development, exchange of ideas and issues, and professional competence in the field of pretrial services, to encourage the establishment of responsible agencies to provide such services, to provide technical assistance to those agencies providing such services, to provide a regular means of communication among such agencies and to develop and implement training materials and techniques for those engaged in delivering such services.” 

In 2007, we changed our name to the Pretrial Justice Institute (PJI) to more accurately reflect our mission to serve the broad spectrum of front-end decision making.  PJI’s mission is to advocate for fair and effective pretrial practices that eliminate inappropriate detention, optimize diversion from prosecution, and maintain community safety.  It seeks to accomplish this mission by facilitating research that drives evidence-based practices, assisting state and local governments in improving their pretrial policies, and providing technical assistance to elevate local pretrial practice.  PJI provides information, technical assistance and training involving the pretrial stage of the criminal justice process to criminal justice officials and community leaders at the federal, state and local levels.