The citizens of New Jersey have a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent and, just as importantly, the results of these expenditures. The state's juvenile justice, corrections and parole budget now exceeds $1 billion, yet there is no requirement that the state agencies involved calculate and report recidivism rates or regularly evaluate their approaches to improving public safety outcomes, or that the state conduct cost benefit analyses of sentencing and public safety policy choices. In order to hold government accountable for its criminal justice spending, there should be greater transparency around core expenditures and their outcomes. The first step in achieving accountability is data collection:

* Mandate and fund data collection and public reporting around the rearrest, reconviction, and reincarceration of adults and juveniles leaving state custody. At a minimum the Department of Corrections, the Juvenile Justice Commission, and the State Parole Board should be required annually to report and account for these outcomes.

* Mandate a fiscal note for all proposed legislation that alters criminal penalties for any criminal offense. Adding a presumption that a fiscal note, which evaluates whether a proposed bill will increase or decrease expenditures or revenues, is required for any legislation affecting criminal penalties will ensure that there is on-going consideration of the cost effectiveness of criminal justice policy.