A case study is used to explore these issues, drawing on the 5-year collaboration experience between an academic research center and a department of corrections. Over the past 5 years, the Center for Mental Health Services & Criminal Justice Research and the New Jersey Department of Corrections (NJDOC) have developed a partnership designed to create, adapt, and diffuse knowledge pertinent to practice related to how people with mental illness who contact the criminal justice system are engaged, treated, and affected by their interactions with criminal justice personnel and procedures. The conditions that favor the success of such a partnership must exist prior to the first contact between the potential partners. The leadership of the practice organization (NJDOC) must value research and the expertise of researchers as a critical element of planning, policy, and practice. Researchers, on the other hand, must appreciate that research topics, designs, and findings must be tailored to the interests and objectives of the practice agency. In the case of the Center, its mission was to study NJDOC practices and policies that influenced the welfare of people with mental illness within the criminal justice setting. The prison setting became a significant laboratory for the Center's research. Personal meetings between respective leaders of the Center and the NJDOC facilitated their willingness to trust each other. This paper discusses the details of the first direct experience between the partners as well as repeat experiences following a positive first experience. The dynamics of the partnership in the course of the growth of the evidence base produced by research are also discussed. 10 references