KU News Release

Chinese officials visit KU to learn about America’s criminal justice system

LAWRENCE — A group of Chinese corrections officials and scholars will spend a week in Lawrence and at the University of Kansas, where they hope to learn more about America’s criminal justice system.

KU is hosting the delegation of 20, which will receive a crash course in American justice as members visit Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Kay McFarland, a county detention center, a state prison and other facilities.

The visit was arranged by China’s State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, the agency charged with locating overseas training for Chinese government officials. The group will be hosted by KU’s Public Management Center, a unit of KU Continuing Education.

“This is the first visit in what we hope will be a long and expansive relationship with SAFEA scholars,” said Charles Jones, director of the Public Management Center. “No doubt that during this week we will learn as much as we teach.”

The delegation will spend Monday in the classroom at Continuing Education, where they will learn the basics of the U.S. criminal justice system. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the classes move to the Old Douglas County Courthouse. Instructors include academics and professionals in corrections and social welfare.

Judge G. Joseph Pierron of the Kansas Court of Appeals will speak to the group during its Thursday visit to the state capital. While in Topeka, they will also visit the Kansas Correctional Institute for Women and the Shawnee County Juvenile Detention Facility.

Delegation members will finish their weeklong tour with Friday trips to Lansing and Leavenworth, where they will visit the Lansing Correctional Facility and Zephyr Enterprises. As they return to Lawrence, they will make their final stop at the Douglas County Jail.

-30-

The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.