Reviewing some elected offices that impact local, state and federal criminal justice system

Prison Policy Initiative has this new election-season briefing about criminal justice official titled "Mass incarceration is on the ballot: A guide to how 19 offices you may be asked to vote on can help end mass incarceration in America."  Here is how it gets started:

Election Day is right around the corner. While presidential campaigns get most of the attention from the news media, many lesser-known down-ballot races can have a much more dramatic impact on criminal legal system reform in America.

For voters interested in ending mass incarceration, we’ve put together a guide to the most common offices for which they will cast their ballots this November.  We also explore how those offices can make decisions to reduce the number of people behind bars, improve conditions in prisons and jails, and help turn the page on America’s failed experiment with mass incarceration.

It’s worth recognizing that there are significant differences in what an office might be called and its exact responsibilities from state to state and city to city, so readers should keep in mind that this might not be a perfect match for their area.  Additionally, it would be impossible to list all of the complex and far-reaching ways some offices influence the criminal legal system.  This guide focuses on the most common and consequential offices and responsibilities in this realm and is not intended to be all-encompassing.  With this guide, we aimed to give people a starting point for their research to better understand the roles and powers of the offices they’ll be asked to vote for.

Readers should use this guide to evaluate their candidates for office, press them to take clear stands on how they’ll use their position to improve the criminal legal system if elected and hold them accountable for those commitments once they take office.