Center for Effective Public Policy’s Rural Pretrial Practitioners Fellowship

The Center for Effective Public Policy's Rural Pretrial Practitioners Fellowship (RPPF) addresses these unique and often overlooked challenges and dynamics faced by pretrial practitioners in rural areas. By providing specialized training, mentorship, and resources, this fellowship equips participating practitioners with the capacity to lead pretrial improvements in their community, build partnerships with other system practitioners, enhance pretrial outcomes, promote justice in their underserved communities, and thereafter serve as national experts to the rural pretrial field. CEPP will partner with the University of North Carolina School of Government Criminal Justice Innovation Lab to document the program and evaluate its successes, challenges, and impact. The project team, which also includes a pretrial director from a rural jurisdiction and a criminologist with deep experience working in rural jurisdictions, will oversee all aspects of the RPPF and collaborate and report to BJA; develop and deliver a comprehensive curriculum to the fellows and mentors that addresses the specialized knowledge and skills relevant to the unique challenges they face, including understanding the nuances of rural pretrial work, adapting evidence-based practices to rural contexts, and developing strategies to address resource limitations and geographical constraints; build collaboration among the mentors and fellows and establish a network of pretrial professionals; use the lessons learned during this initiative to develop a practical roadmap for rural pretrial practitioners and encourage a broader positive impact on rural pretrial systems nationwide. By investing in rural pretrial practitioners, CEPP is cultivating a new generation of leaders in rural justice who are committed to ensuring their communities receive fair, equitable, and effective pretrial services. This initiative is more than a professional development program; it is an endeavor to empower and uplift rural communities. By providing the necessary support and guidance, the RPPF creates opportunities to transform the justice system in these areas, ensuring that every person, regardless of where they live, has access to a fair and effective pretrial process.