Our History

Improving the administration of justice in the United States and abroad is an expansive mission. The Justice Management Institute since 1993 has touched on every major justice system reform area at every level of government. Whether working with state courts or local trial courts; in criminal or civil, family or juvenile systems; in the United States or in the Middle East, the Justice Management Institute has been committed to common principles of justice, fairness, and equity.

On January 12, 1993, The Justice Management Institute was officially incorporated as a non-profit organization in Colorado. In the fall of 1992, Harvey Solomon, Barry Mahoney, and Bob Roper began a new non-profit organization called The Court Management Group in Denver, Colorado. Over January 9th and 10th, 1993, more than 50 court leaders from the United States and Canada met to discuss the future of the new group. They decided that the organization would initially focus on trial court operations while planning to gradually broaden its scope to include other parts of the justice system. At this meeting, the participants also recommended that the group take the name The Justice Management Institute. On January 12, 1993, The Justice Management Institute was officially incorporated as a non-profit organization in Colorado. Click here to learn more about the creation of JMI.

During its first few years, JMI’s Board of Directors, who provided financial and policy oversight for the organization, consisted of the organization’s founding members. In early 1995, the board of directors expanded to include new and additional members. To learn more about the early years of JMI, click here.

In keeping with its original mission, JMI focused mainly on trial courts throughout the 1990s. Projects included caseflow management trainings and systematic assessments of case processing and management. JMI also played a large role in the development and expansion of drug courts during this time. As time progressed, JMI was asked to work on a host of other issues related to the effective administration of justice including the use of structured fines as an intermediate sanction, public access to justice, self-represented litigants, and privacy and public access to court records.

PAST AND PRESENT PRESIDENTS OF JMI:

• Harvey Solomon, 1992-1993
• Barry Mahoney, 1993-2002, 2008-2010
• Alan Carlson, 2002-2008
• Elaine Borakove, 2010-present

Elaine Borakove joined JMI in 2008 and has served as the organization’s president since 2010. Now based in Arlington, Virginia, JMI has continued to evolve. Its work has expanded from an almost exclusive focus on the courts to entire justice systems and other aspects of the adjudication process such as prosecution and defense. JMI has also moved beyond the adult criminal justice system to include work in the areas of juvenile justice, civil justice, family law, and administrative law. In keeping with the more comprehensive systemic focus that JMI has come to embody, divisions are now in place to focus on the following technical aspects of JMI’s work:

Justice Management

• Research and evaluation on emerging issues facing justice systems
• Training on evidence-based and promising practices in justice system management
• Peer-to-peer learning exchanges among practitioners to share best practices
• Justice Technology
• Business processing mapping to support new technology solutions
• Assessments of technology use
• Reviews and development of specifications for new case management systems

Today, JMI has earned a reputation as a reliable, objective, and fair organization that produces high quality outcomes for justice system professionals. Our staff members offer a broad range of expertise in both subject matter (courts, prosecution, defense, technology, public administration, education, law, and economics) as well as qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Since its inception, JMI has completed more than 350 projects in the United States and abroad to build better justice systems that are fair, equitable, effective, and efficient. The common thread among these projects is the commitment to looking systemically at issues, translating research and best practice to practical, on-the-ground tools and recommendations, and collaborating across stakeholders to provide the most comprehensive picture of the issues possible.

In 2018, in celebration of JMI’s 25th anniversary, a series on the history of JMI was published on our blog. Read more about the creation of the Justice Management Institute and subsequent years on our blog (or download the PDF).

For even more information about our work, please visit our Resources section and read some of our publications.

If you are interested in exploring a relationship with us to examine a justice system challenge in your community, please Contact Us.