ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Elizabeth Arnovits, Executive Director, Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency

Beth Arnovits has been involved in crime control and prevention efforts at the local, state and federal levels since 1975. A graduate of Michigan State University’s School of Criminal Justice, she started her career as a community liaison for a Model Cities Community Center Program where she was involved in direct services for juvenile and adult offenders.

As Executive Director of the Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency, Arnovits has organized coalitions of citizens and professionals to advocate for reforms in policies that affect children and adults involved in the justice systems. Currently she is leading MCCD’s partnership with the Michigan Department of Corrections on implementing the Michigan Prisoner Reentry Initiative (MPRI). She is a founding member and co-chair of the National Juvenile Justice Network and the Michigan Collaborative on Juvenile Justice Reform (MCJJR). She has advanced training in balanced and restorative justice, communications, volunteer recruitment, coalition building, group facilitation, public relations and fundraising, and is a certified prevention trainer.

Paul Bailey, Sheriff, Berrien County 

Sheriff Paul Bailey has served the residents of Berrien County as a police officer for 27 years and was elected Sheriff in 2001.  A graduate of Eau Claire High School, Bailey has attended Lake Michigan College, Willmar Community College and Western Michigan University.  He was the Chief of Police in Stevensville, Michigan and a patrolman for the Schoolcraft and St. Joseph Township Police Departments.  During his years of service with the St. Joseph Township Police Department, Bailey won the "Officer of the Year Award" an unprecedented four times.

Robert Brown, Jr., Corrections Consultant; Director, Michigan Department of Corrections, 1984-1991

Robert Brown, Jr. was director of the Michigan Department of Corrections for six and one-half years, retiring in 1991. During his 30 years with the department, Brown served as deputy director in charge of the state prisons, a deputy warden, a parole officer, and a prison counselor. Now a criminal justice consultant, he has served as a consent agreement monitor for a federal court in Illinois, an expert witness in litigation regarding the beating death of a prisoner in Maryland, and has worked with the prison systems of Connecticut, Illinois and Pennsylvania. Among Brown’s many honors are awards from the American Correctional Association and the Association of State Correctional Administrators. He is a graduate of Michigan State University.

Jean Doss, Governmental Affairs Consultant

Jean Doss is the principal of J. Doss Consulting, LLC.  She is a governmental affairs consultant who specializes in the areas of appropriations, human services, occupation regulation, family law and health policy. She is particularly well-known in Lansing for her skills in grassroots training and coordination.

Doss, who earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Michigan, was a Senior Associate Lobbyist at Capitol Services, Inc. from 1991-2005. Her previous positions included Coordinator, Occupational Lung Disease Surveillance Project, Department of Medicine, Michigan State University (1988-1991); Administrative Assistant, Nevada Attorney Generals Office of Advocate for Customers of Public Utilities (1985-1988); Community Education and Outreach Coordinator, Committee to Aid Abused Women, Reno, Nevada (1983-1985).

Matt Johnson, Fellow, Citizen’s Research Council

Matt Johnson is the 2008-2009 Lent Upson-Loren Miller Fellow with the Citizens Research Council. After graduating from the University of Iowa with a B.A. in Mathematics and Philosophy (2003) and a M.S. in Mathematics (2006), he began work with a mathematics publishing company, writing and editing math texts. Desiring to apply his quantitative skills in a more practical setting, Johnson began an internship with the Citizens Research Council in September of 2007. This fall he will be a Master of Public Policy candidate at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.

Lynn Jondahl, Executive Director, Michigan Prospect for Renewed Citizenship

Lynn Jondahl currently serves as Executive Director of the Michigan Prospect for Renewed Citizenship. In December of 1994, Lynn ended 22 years of service as a Michigan State Representative from the East Lansing, Meridian Township area. For 12 years he chaired the House Taxation Committee and played a key role in many taxation issues, especially those focused on education finance reform. As a legislator, he sponsored and led successful efforts to enact major environmental and consumer protection legislation,

including Michigan’s Mandatory Deposit Act (“Bottle Bill”), the Sand Dune Protection Act, the Generic Drug Act and the Handicapper Civil Rights Act. In 1994 he gave up his House seat to run for the Democratic nomination for Governor.

From 1995 through July of 2002 Jondahl served as Co-Director of the Michigan Political Leadership Program at Michigan State University. From November of 2002 through January of 2003, he served as director of transition for the new administration of Governor Jennifer Granholm and Lt. Governor John Cherry. Ordained a minister in the United Church of Christ upon graduation from Yale University Divinity School, Jondahl’s legislative experience followed work as a campus pastor. He is currently a member of the Michigan Budget and Tax Policy Project Advisory Board and chairs the State of Michigan Board of Ethics. He has also participated in international projects designed as local/regional government seminars and training programs in such diverse locations as Siberia, Ukraine, Moscow, Seoul, Malawi and Ghana. 

Barbara Levine, Executive Director, Citizens Alliance on Prisons and Public Spending

Barbara Levine has been the executive director of CAPPS since it was founded in 2000. She received her Bachelor’s and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of Michigan and has been a member of the Michigan Bar since 1974. She has represented indigent felony defendants on appeal of their convictions, taught law school and served as a Commissioner for the Michigan Supreme Court. 

In 1985, Levine became the first administrator of the Michigan Appellate Assigned Counsel System (MAACS). In that capacity, she trained lawyers appointed to represent indigent defendants on appeal, oversaw the appointment process, enforced minimum performance standards, and worked to obtain improved funding for indigent defense services. Levine left MAACS in 1999 in order to focus exclusively on the constant expansion of the prison system. She is a vice-chair of the State Bar’s Character and Fitness Committee, a member of the governing councils of both the Prisons and Corrections Section and the Criminal Law Section of the Bar, and a member of the Public Defense Task Force.

Kathy K.P. Pelleran, State Director, Fight Crime, Invest in Kids Michigan

Kathy “K.P.” Pelleran joined Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Michigan as its State Director in March 2001. Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is a nonprofit, crime prevention organization led by more than 400 Michigan sheriffs, prosecutors, police chiefs and violence survivors. After serving as a county youth counselor for one year, Pelleran has worked in public policy development for the past twenty-nine years. She worked for former Michigan State Senator Mitch Irwin, U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), and was a press secretary for a Member of Congress. She has directed several state organizations involving crime prevention, consumer, health, environment, and insurance policy issues. She also directed several successful issue campaigns where she helped to beat big tobacco, big insurance, big garbage, and lost an ugly war to big oil (leaving Michigan with term limits).

Internationally, Pelleran was a program officer and trainer for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs based in Moscow, Russia, where she conducted leadership development training programs in the former Soviet Union for members of parliament, political and civic leaders, and candidates for public office. She was an elected trustee for Lansing Community College (July 2000 through December 2007), and has served on several other non-profit boards. She holds a B.A. from Lake Superior State University and expects to graduate in August 2009 from the M.P.A. program at Western Michigan University.

Michael F. Reagan, President and CEO, Proaction Behavior Health Alliance

Michael F. Reagan is President and CEO of Proaction Behavioral Health Alliance, a statewide non-profit health care organization based in Grand Rapids that provides substance abuse and mental health treatment and prevention services. Reagan, who has a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology, serves as President of the Michigan Association of Licensed Substance Abuse Organizations (ALSAO), Trustee of State Associations of Addiction Services, and as Board Member for Mental Health Association of Michigan, Partners in Crisis, and Citizens Alliance on Prisons and Public Spending (CAPPS). Reagan is Adjunct Assistant Professor for the Department of Health and Human Services, Physicians Assistants and Social Work Schools, Western Michigan University, and Adjunct Professor, College of Community and Public Service, Grand Valley State University.

Mark Reinstein, President and CEO, Mental Health Association in Michigan

Mark Reinstein has been employed by the Mental Health Association in Michigan for the past 25 years. He has directed the organization’s public policy efforts since 1992 and became President and CEO in 2002.  Reinstein, whose prior work experience includes stints with the Monroe County Health Department and Michigan Lung Association, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication from Central Michigan University, a Master’s in Health Education from Central Michigan University and a Doctorate in Psychological Studies from the University of Michigan. He has many organizational affiliations and has won numerous awards for his advocacy on behalf of people with mental illness. He was a member of Governor Granholm’s special Commission on Mental Health, is a co-founder and chair of Michigan Partners for Parity (a statewide coalition dedicated to achieving mental health insurance parity legislation for Michigan) and is a founding member of Michigan Partners in Crisis, a coalition of organizations and jurists dedicated to reducing the commitment of people with mental illness to the criminal justice system and improving the delivery of mental health treatment within state and local corrections facilities.

Jeffrey L. Sauter, Eaton County Prosecuting Attorney

Jeff Sauter is the longest-serving Prosecuting Attorney in the history of Eaton County. Having been appointed in January 1991 to complete the final two years left of his predecessor's term, Sauter was unopposed in the 1992, 1996, 2000 & 2004 general elections. His current term expires on December 31, 2008.

Sauter previously served Eaton County as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney (1979-1985) and as Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney (1985-1988).  Between 1988 and his appointment as Prosecutor, Sauter handled general civil litigation in the private practice of law.

Sauter has been on the board of directors of PAAM, the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan, since 1992. He was an officer for five years, serving as president from 2000-2001. He is also on the board of the Michigan Association of Drug Court Professionals and an officer of the Eaton County Bar Association. In April 2003, Sauter was honored by the Crime Victim Foundation as the Outstanding Crime Victim Advocate of the Year. In February 2006, he was honored with PAAM’s Distinguished Faculty Award. Sauter received his bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University and his juris doctorate (cum laude) from Thomas M. Cooley Law School.

Dennis S. Schrantz, Deputy Director, Michigan Department of Corrections

Dennis Schrantz is the Deputy Director in charge of the Michigan Department of Corrections’ Planning and Community Development Administration. He is responsible for strategic planning, works on implementing the department’s five-year plan to control prison growth and manages the Michigan Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative (MPRI).  This administration is also responsible for implementing, monitoring and evaluating the Michigan Community Corrections Act and for the department’s Office of Research and Planning. Schrantz has also served as Chief Deputy Director of the MDOC’s Field Operations Administration, which oversees probation, parole and boot camp operations.

Schrantz’s areas of specialty are jail and prison overcrowding, cross-system integration between substance abuse and criminal justice systems, and the reduction of racial disparity. His experience in community corrections dates back to 1981. He served as the administrator of a community service program in Hickory, NC, the administrator of the North Carolina Community Penalties Program, the first director of the Michigan Office of Community Corrections and as the director of adult services for Wayne County’s Department of Community Justice. Schrantz has been a consultant to several national organizations and federal agencies and has published and taught extensively.

Janet K. Welch, Executive Director, State Bar of Michigan

Janet Welch was named executive director of the State Bar of Michigan in April 2007. Welch, who previously served the Bar as general counsel, is the first woman to head the more than 38,000-member statewide organization. A Michigan native, she is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Albion College and the University of Michigan Law School. She is also a graduate of the Kennedy School of Government State and Local Senior Executive Program at Harvard University and was a Fulbright Scholar in comparative literature at the University of Zagreb in the former Yugoslavia.

Before coming to the State Bar in 2000, Welch served as Michigan Supreme Court Counsel for four years. She has had an extensive career in state government that started as a legislative analyst for the Michigan House of Representatives. In 1980, she was chosen to create a nonpartisan legislative analysis office for the Michigan Senate and served as its director for five years before attending law school.

After a clerkship with Michigan Supreme Court Justice Robert P. Griffin, Welch accepted a position as executive analyst in the Office of the Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, where her work included analysis of legislative issues affecting the judicial system. In that capacity, she served as reporter for the Commission on the Courts in the 21st Century and as staff to the Michigan Justice Project. In 1998, the Council of State Governments named her a Toll Fellow for outstanding achievement and service to state government.