Gov. Doug Burgum and First Lady Kathryn Burgum today will attend White House meetings on criminal justice reform and prison reform and a celebration of the First Step Act, which President Trump signed into law last year to increase the likelihood of successful prisoner reentry.
Today’s strategy session will include remarks from Attorney General William Barr and working sessions on innovations in reentry, improving the lives of incarcerated women and modernizing prison services.
The meetings come after Burgum participated in a State Leaders Roundtable on prison reform with President Trump and other administration officials last August in Bedminster, N.J. Burgum used the roundtable to highlight North Dakota’s innovative prison reform efforts, including Free Through Recovery, a partnership between the Department of Human Services and Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that can connect participants with a care coordinator, recovery services and peer support. More than 1,000 individuals have participated in the program since it began accepting referrals in January 2018.