Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Tuesday she is forming a criminal justice work group tasked with recommending policies aimed at reducing the rate of ex-offenders returning to prison and removing bias from Iowa’s criminal justice system.
“That will be part of my program moving forward, is to build on the second chance initiatives that I started last year,” Reynolds said. “We’ve got some great updates for some of the things we’ve done, and we’ll be looking at what else we need to do.”
She also said she will continue to push for a constitutional amendment that would automatically restore voting rights to felons who complete their sentence, a proposal shot down by Iowa Senate Republicans earlier this year.
Reynolds, a Republican, announced these efforts at the 7th annual Iowa Summit on Justice and Disparities in Ankeny. NAACP leaders joined her on stage and said the governor has included them in discussions about who should be in the criminal justice work group.
Iowa-Nebraska NAACP President Betty Andrews said she is very excited about this new committee.
Read the full story at Iowa Public Radio.