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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 20, 2007

CONTACT: Raenetta Nance 512-463-0796

Probation Bill Targets Public Safety

Representative Jerry Madden, Chairman of the House Corrections Committee, filed today a reform bill to make the probation system stronger by focusing resources on better supervision. "Low level drug offenders need to be closely monitored, they need access to treatment, and judges should review their success or failure with the option of granting early termination- a hand up not a hand out," says Madden.

Last session Governor Rick Perry vetoed a similar measure after it passed through the House and Senate due to concern over changes applying to a relatively small number of offenders. Yet it appears that public concern over prison overcrowding and probation reform is as prevalent as ever. The revised bill, HB 1678, takes into account the Governor's concerns and seems to have overwhelming support from both ends of the political spectrum.

In fiscal year 2006, nearly 4,000 offenders received probation sentences for longer than five years for controlled substance offenses. Madden's new probation bill shortens the maximum length of probation from ten years to five years for third degree felonies that are drug and property related. "If these offenders convicted of the lowest level felony are still a risk to the public, the judge has the ability to make the offender serve ten years, but if not these offenders can get shorter probation terms with stronger supervision and treatment to help them become productive citizens,” adds Madden. The bill does not make any changes in present probation laws that apply to aggravated, violent or sex offenders.

HB 1678 provides for greater judicial involvement and judicial discretion. Judges will become more involved in the probation process due to the requirement to review the probationer's case at the halfway point of their probation term. "Citizens elect their judges to make decisions for the public safety of their community. This bill enhances their ability to make those decisions,” Madden stated.

 

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Study predicts rise in inmate populations

Repeat offenders, parole denials part of increase

Kevin Johnson, Feb 14, 2007

WASHINGTON -- The number of inmates in U.S. prisons likely will rise nearly 13% during the next five years, costing states up to $27.5 billion in new operating and construction expenses, according to a new analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

The Pew report, to be released today, projects the nation's prison population will be about 1.72 million by 2011, up from an estimated 1.53 million at the end of last year. Such an increase would roughly equal the current population of the federal prison system.

Pew analysts said the growth is being fueled by mandatory minimum sentences that have stretched prison terms for many criminals, declines in inmates granted parole and other policies that states have passed in recent years to crack down on crime.

In some states, the study said, high rates of repeat offenders also have been a factor in boosting prison populations.

Prison authorities in Montana, Arizona, Alaska, Idaho and Vermont could see their prison systems grow by one-third or more if there are no changes to the states' sentencing and release policies, the study said.

"The projected growth is phenomenal," says Sue Urahn, managing director of Pew's state policy programs. "But whether it comes to this is up to the states. They determine who goes to prison and for how long."

Pew, a Philadelphia-based philanthropic organization that funds research into a variety of issues, based its findings on population forecasts gathered from the federal Bureau of Prisons and 42 states.

Researchers calculated estimates for the eight states that did not provide projections, based on the states' most recent prison admission and release data.

The report estimated the projected prison costs over the next five years as a "staggering" $27.5 billion -- nearly half the amount now spent on American prisons each year.

The report also predicted that the number of female inmates will rise at a faster rate (16%) than males (12%). "Don't picture this parade of prisoners as an exclusively male group," it said. Among the report's other findings:

*By 2011, Florida's prison system is expected to become the third state system to surpass 100,000 inmates, joining California and Texas. California's projected inmate population for 2011 is 188,772; Texas' is 166,327.

*In Louisiana, which has the nation's highest rate of incarceration with 835 prisoners per 100,000 residents, the incarceration rate is projected to reach 859 by 2011.

*Nearly two-thirds of the more than 600,000 people admitted to prison each year have failed to satisfy terms of probation or parole.

Richard Berk, a professor of criminology and statistics at the University of Pennsylvania who reviewed Pew's analysis, called it a "cautious"

attempt to forecast and account for the dramatic growth in prison populations.

The Pew report highlights recent crime problems and state responses that have helped increase prison populations, including the prosecution of methamphetamine-related offenses and sex offenders.

In Montana, which is projected to have the nation's largest percentage in inmates -- 41% -- over the next five years, at least half of all new prison admissions today are for meth-related crimes, Montana Department of Corrections spokesman Bob Anez says.

One in four prisoners in Montana's 2,812-inmate system is a sex offender and 46% of the population has a mental illness, Anez says. Montana is examining alternative sentencing and treatment programs to handle the increasing population, he says.

Later this year, two meth treatment centers -- an 80-bed facility for men and a 40-bed one for women -- are scheduled to open. Montana's Legislature is considering a proposal for a 120-bed treatment center for mentally ill offenders.

The state also has added 169 beds to its halfway houses in the past two years to try to better prepare released offenders for life outside prison and reduce a recidivism rate in which nearly half of all offenders have are returning to prison.

"We're at the end of the pipeline here," Anez says. "Once they get here, we have to think about things we can do to prepare them so they don't come back."