Although more data on the criminal legal system is available than ever before, local communities still lack the data they need to examine racial disparities in the criminal legal system, advocate for equitable policies and practices, and hold government agencies accountable for making progress with reforms. This leads many community organizations to request data directly from their local government agencies. This guide is for community groups that seek to access data from government agencies to advance reform, transparency, and accountability in the criminal legal system. It describes strategies for effective data requests, including ways to respond to agency concerns. It is based on the experiences of Urban Institute researchers and the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership.

This is one in a series of guides developed by the Urban Institute for community groups, drawing on the experiences of Catalyst Grant Program participants and Urban researchers. The Catalyst Grant Program is a collaboration between the Urban Institute and the Microsoft Justice Reform Initiative to help nonprofit organizations use data and technology to advance racial equity in the criminal legal system.

There are three other Catalyst guides in this series:

• Best Practices in Community Surveys for Criminal Legal System Reform 
• Strategic Communication of Reform Efforts in the Criminal Legal System 
• Designing Data and Technology Projects for Criminal Legal System Reform

Visit the Catalyst Grant Program Insights page for more resources and stories about the grantees.