Incarceration cost analysis, sentencing disparity research, policing reform evaluation, and recidivism analysis using published methodologies from CCJ, Vera Institute, The Sentencing Project, and BJS.
Trellison Institute applies methodologies published by the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ), the Vera Institute of Justice, The Sentencing Project, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics for analyzing criminal justice data. Trellison Institute has not contacted these organizations and does not claim endorsement or affiliation. We apply their published frameworks because they represent the most rigorous publicly available methods for criminal justice data analysis. CCJ's bipartisan task forces on policing and federal sentencing provide frameworks for analyzing reform outcomes. We evaluate methodology, not policy positions. Negative results are results.
What This Service Does
Criminal Justice Data Analysis
The United States incarcerates approximately 1.9 million people at an estimated annual cost exceeding $80 billion. Researchers studying incarceration economics, sentencing patterns, recidivism, and the community-level impacts of criminal justice policy need access to structured, comparable data from fragmented federal, state, and county sources.
Trellison applies published criminal justice research frameworks to publicly available data, providing researchers with clean analytical pipelines for studying these questions at the county, state, and national level.
See also:Incarceration Economics — our data story examining the economic impact of incarceration on families and communities. | Chicago Crime Lab Research Support — RCT evaluation frameworks for gun violence interventions and evidence-based policing.
Analytical Frameworks
Published Methodologies Applied
Vera Institute Cost-of-Incarceration FrameworkPublished methodology for calculating the true cost of incarceration beyond per-diem rates, including healthcare, pension liabilities, capital costs, and administrative overhead.
Sentencing Project Disparity AnalysisPublished frameworks for measuring racial and socioeconomic disparities in sentencing, controlling for offense type, criminal history, and jurisdiction.
BJS Recidivism MeasurementBureau of Justice Statistics published methodology for tracking rearrest, reconviction, and reincarceration rates across follow-up periods and demographic groups.
Community Impact AssessmentPublished frameworks from the Prison Policy Initiative and academic researchers for measuring the economic impact of incarceration on families, housing stability, employment, and intergenerational outcomes.
Council on Criminal Justice Task Force FrameworksCCJ's bipartisan Task Force on Policing and Federal Sentencing Task Force provide published frameworks for analyzing policing practices, federal sentencing reform, and the impact of policy changes on public safety outcomes.
Violence Reduction & Reentry AnalysisPublished CCJ frameworks for evaluating community violence intervention programs and prisoner reentry initiatives, including cost-benefit analysis and outcome measurement across demographic groups.
Data Sources
Public Data, Transparent Methods
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) — National Prisoner Statistics, Census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities, National Crime Victimization Survey, recidivism studies
Vera Institute Publications — published research on incarceration trends, jail populations, immigration detention, and cost analysis methodologies
The Sentencing Project Data — published analyses of state-level incarceration rates, racial disparities, sentencing reform impacts, and international comparisons
FBI Uniform Crime Report / NIBRS — national crime statistics, arrest data, and law enforcement staffing from the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System
Census Bureau — American Community Survey data on community demographics, poverty, employment, and housing linked to jurisdiction-level incarceration data
Prison Policy Initiative — published research on prison conditions, immigration detention economics, and the broader economic impacts of mass incarceration
Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) — bipartisan research and task force reports on policing reform, federal sentencing, violence intervention, and criminal justice system performance metrics
Research Applications
Available for Verified Researchers
What researchers can do with this service
Incarceration cost modeling — county and state-level cost-of-incarceration analysis using the Vera framework, including direct costs, indirect costs, and opportunity costs.
Sentencing disparity analysis — structured data pipelines for examining sentencing outcomes across demographic groups, offense categories, and jurisdictions.
Recidivism pattern research — longitudinal analysis tools for studying rearrest and reincarceration patterns, with controls for program participation, demographics, and time-at-risk.
Community economic impact — county-level datasets linking incarceration rates to economic indicators (employment, housing, poverty, educational attainment, health outcomes).
This service is free for criminal justice researchers whose methodology passes Trellison's evaluation criteria. We provide the data infrastructure. Researchers provide the expertise and the questions. We do not advocate for specific policy positions — we measure what the data shows.
Access This Service
If you are a researcher studying incarceration economics, sentencing reform, policing practices, recidivism, or the community impacts of criminal justice policy, request access to our data pipeline and analytical frameworks.
Hi — I can answer questions about Trellison research and what's on this page. What would you like to know?
Comments are reviewed and translated into business terminology before being added to the public comments section at the bottom of the page. Your raw words are not posted publicly.