Latest News
Congratulations to Yujin Kim, who successfully defended her thesis, Assessing differential fit and racial bias in juvenile risk assessment among AIAN youth, on April 16th.
You did such a fantastic job and everyone in the ARC Lab is proud of you!
Congratulations to Addison Kobie, who successfully defended her dissertation, Compounding inequality: Exploring the intersectionality of race and gender in a multi-state assessment, on April 13th.
Everyone in the ARC Lab is proud of you. We wish you the best, Dr. Kobie.
Congratulations to John Ursino, who successfully defended his dissertation, Crowding, capacity, and reform: Exploring the dynamics of correctional policy, on March 26th.
All of us in the ARC Lab are so proud of you and wish you the best, Dr. Ursino!
On February 5, 2026, Dr. Zachary Hamilton and doctoral candidate John Ursino presented findings from a recent evaluation of the Public Safety Assessment to the Washington State Pretrial Processes Taskforce.
On February 5, 2026, Dr. Zachary Hamilton and doctoral candidate John Ursino presented their findings from their Lancaster Jail Assessment to the Lancaster League of Women Voters.
Congratulations to Taylor Gonzales and Abby Hayes who successfully passed their Criminal Justice Systems Comprehensive Examination in January!
You are now ABD and Doctoral Candidates! Fantastic job to both of you and we look forward to seeing your dissertations get underway!
On January 30, 2026, Dr. Zachary Hamilton and Monica Miles-Steffens presented a webinar for the Nebraska Court Improvement Project sharing the results of the Juvenile Risk Assessment Validation Study for Nebraska Juvenile Probation. The webinar had over 100 juvenile justice stakeholders from across the state in attendance!
Doctoral candidate John Ursino was awarded the Helen Hansen Outstanding Graduate Student Award. Selection of the recipients of the Award is made by the UNO Graduate Council Scholarship/Fellowship Committee, and John’s academic and professional accomplishments earned him the award.
John will receive a plaque at the Student Honors Convocation in April 2026.
Congrats, John!
On December 11, 2025, Dr. Zachary Hamilton, Dr. Mark Foxall, and doctoral candidate John Ursino presented their findings from the Lancaster County Jail Evaluation to the Jail Executive Institute.
Six students from the Advancing Research in Corrections (ARC) Lab presented their research at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology. Their work highlights innovative approaches to understanding risk assessment, correctional programming, and justice reform.
ARC Lab Presenters (alphabetical order):
Sadie Brewer: “The consistent pattern of youth needs: A latent profile analysis of 10 states’ assessment findings.” (with Dr. Zach Hamilton)
Taylor Gonzales: “Risk score comparison: Examining how risk and need scores shift during the first 18 months of reentry.” (with John Ursino and Dr. Zach Hamilton)
Abby Hayes: “Living in the box: Prisoner perceptions of restrictive housing conditions.” (with Drs. Jenn Tostlebe, David Pyrooz, and Ryan Labrecque)
Yujin Kim: “Police officers’ perceptions of drug-induced homicide laws: Evidence from Texas and implications for policy and practice.” (with Drs. Jonathan Reid and Ling Ren)
Naya Russell-Coprich: “Evaluating electronic monitoring programming at the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services.” (with Drs. Zach Hamilton and Jenn Tostlebe)
John Ursino: “Quantifying miscalibration: Estimating the impact of demographic differences on LS/CMI and ORAS accuracy.”
Congratulations to our ARC Lab students for their outstanding contributions to advancing evidence-based correctional and policing research!
