From the Office of State Representative Jerry Madden
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: June 14, 2006
CONTACT: Ren Nance
(512) 463-0796
Legislature Predicts Prison Population to Exceed Capacity by 10,000 beds in 2010.
AUSTIN -- This week the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) released new prison
population and capacity projections for fiscal years 2006-2011. If capacity
remains where it is today and the state does not build anymore prisons, the
prison population will exceed operating capacity by 9,600 beds in 2010. Although
this projection is less grim than the original numbers (last years projection
was 14,000 beds short by 2010), it takes several years to build multi-million
dollar prisons, so the legislature must act quickly to either curb this growth
or start building.
Representative Jerry Madden, Chairman of the House Committee on Corrections,
spoke on the new projections at a policy primer held by the Texas Public Policy
Foundation this Tuesday. Madden feels that while 10,000 beds by 2010 is a
steep challenge, it is doable. "The good news is that probation departments
are decreasing the revocation rates and increasing early discharges- that
means we are slowing the spillover of probationers being sent to prison".
Last session the legislature allocated approximately $27.7 million per year
in new diversion program funds to the Community Justice Assistance Division
of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. These funds were intended to
reduce probation officer's caseloads so that they can focus on the serious
offenders, increase treatment and aftercare, and entice probation departments
to use progressive sanctions models. Second quarter highlights show that felony
revocations are down 7.43%, felony technical violations are down 13.72%, and
felony early discharges are up 17.40%.
Madden is also looking at parole rates, "with a little help from the backend, we may not be in quite the dire situation that we were projecting last session". Right now parole rates are running at roughly 27%, whereas historically (in 2003 through 2004) they were running at about 30%. The LBB predicts that if the parole rates increased by only 2%, there would be no need to build any new prisons by 2010. Madden's main intent is to divert more people from coming into the system rather than letting them out the backend, but he says it is comforting to know that there is a safety net that does not require major action and would not require spending hundreds of million dollars to build more prisons. It is estimated that a 2,250 bed minimum-maximum prison will cost the state approximately $250 million dollars (that figure doesn't include the cost to actually run the prison, it is only the initial building costs). "If parole rates return to what they were in 2003 and 2004, and probation continues to make improvements using graduated sanctions and new money for treatment beds, then we can maintain our prison capacity".
To get the prison population down by 2010, Madden has big plans for this coming session. At the policy primer on Tuesday, Madden reiterated his request that the Governor reinstate some form of the criminal justice policy analysis group formerly known as the Criminal Justice Policy Council. "We have received outstanding support for this request from advocacy groups, public policy think-tanks, agency employees, universities, and legislators from both the House and Senate since my request went public last week".
Madden also plans to resurrect his probation reform bill that was vetoed by Governor Perry last year. "It will be brought back in a form that will be acceptable to the Governor, but I will not eliminate the components of the bill that are guaranteed to make our probation system stronger". Another top priority for next session is changing the probation funding formulas so that the state can focus more intensive programming early in the probation terms where you get more bang for your buck. The intent of HB 2193 was to divert resources from low-risk "model" probationers who are doing everything the state asks of them and focus resources on three things: high risk offenders, drug courts, and treatment. Changing the probation formula will compliment this plan and keep the state from building more prisons.
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The Daily Texan: 6/14/06
Panel Calls for More Rehab in State Prisons
By Victoria Rossi
Texas should increase the scope of alternative rehabilitation programs for nonviolent criminal offenders, according to a panel including two state legislators and a former counselor that met Tuesday to address prisoners' high recidivism rates. The panelists called for more state funding to ensure that inmates leaving Texas prisons are "street ready" and therefore less likely to return to jail.
State Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston; Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Richardson and Bill Wigmore, who runs a chemical dependency treatment center in Austin sat on the policy panel called "Breaking the Addiction to Prison: Alternatives to Incarceration for Nonviolent Offenders." Various Texas lawmakers and representatives from non-profit groups interested in prison reform attended the discussion.
"It's always a challenge to get the necessary resources for most of the rehabilitation programs. The Texas government is controlled by those in the Republican Party who believe less government is better," said Whitmire, chair of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.
The panel emphasized its distinction between "career criminals who won't be changed and the offenders who can be," Whitmire said. Those that can be reformed¬ - in particular, prisoners convicted of substance abuse ¬- should be directed toward community based treatment centers, he said, rather than sent to jail with the "general population" of prisoners.
Tough requirements for those on probation increase the likelihood that they'll return to prison for breaking the terms of their release, making it "nearly impossible for them to succeed," said Whitmire.
More than 26,000 people are sent to prison each year for violating the terms of their probation, with more than 15 percent probation revocation rates, according to reports by the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Inmates - who are on average incarcerated with a sixth-grade education level - need to have received more education by the end of their terms, said Whitmire. Today they usually receive no more than one extra year of schooling, regardless of whether their term is one year or 10 years, he added.
"It kind of used to be that a lot of political leaders said, 'Let's lock 'em up and throw away the key,'" said Marc Levin, director of the Center for Effective Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the conservative group that hosted the discussion. "This way is more effective and more compassionate and will also save taxpayers money."
In recent years, the Texas Criminal Justice system has seen its funding slashed by nearly $3 million, said Madden. Safe-P, the state's drug rehabilitation program, has high success rates but has reduced its treatment terms from nine months to six months, said Michelle Lyons, Texas criminal justice department spokeswoman.
One of the main challenges facing lawmakers will be to determine what sorts of restorative programs are the most effective so that more funding can go to support them, Madden said. He called on independent research organizations to study the success of existing programs.
In 2005, the Legislative Budget Board said Texas prisons would need an additional 14,000 beds by 2010 to accomodate for the growing number of inmates. Meeting the housing demand will prove difficult, because it will take nearly three years to build new facilities, Madden said.
http://media.www.dailytexanonline.com
Prison overcrowding back on agenda
Web Posted: 03/23/2006 12:00 AM CST
Isadora Vail
Express-News Austin Bureau
AUSTIN — Ten years after Texas legislators went on a prison-building binge to ease overcrowding, the issue is back — a big sign that something bigger is wrong with the corrections system and needs to be fixed, criminal justice groups said Wednesday.
The House Committee on Corrections heard testimony from more than 10 organizations, including the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, to gather ideas and discuss ways to alleviate overcrowding in the state's prison system.
Texas had to reduce the overflow of prisoners in the 1990s because of a federal court order, nearly tripling the number of inmate beds. With more than 150,000 beds, it is considered the largest prison system in the country.
Since prison overcrowding is nothing new and Gov. Rick Perry vetoed a probation reduction bill last year, the committee is seeking alternatives to incarceration by reducing a felon's chances of re-offending.
But that doesn't mean a similar probation bill won't cross the governor's desk again next year, said Shannon Edmonds, staff attorney for Texas District and County Attorneys Association.
Edmonds said the committee hopes to form a product that everyone will support.
House Bill 2193 would have reduced the maximum probation period from 10 to five years for some felons. Lawmakers overwhelmingly passed the bill, but Perry rejected it because some felons were violent offenders.
According to the TDCJ, Texas had the largest probation population in the country in 2004.
"Today Texans are bearing a huge, unnecessary cost due to a failed probation system," testified Ana Yañez-Correa, executive director of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition. "Many Texans would be shocked to know that bad probation policies in our state are only serving to waste tax dollars while actually diminishing public safety."
Other ways to alleviate prison overcrowding were discussed by Texas Youth Commission, Probation Advisory Council and the Texas Probation Association.
Jim Scott, the legislative co-chairman for the Texas Probation Association, said he is gathering probation officers' opinions about the criminal justice system and where they believe the corrections system should be.
Richard Watkins, with the NAACP, spoke of his years spent as a Texas prison guard. He experienced many changes with inmates through faith-based and substance abuse programs, and that these programs should still be available to inmates.
Committee member John McReynolds said the committee needs help in finding a way back to where the criminal justice system was a few years ago, when college courses were offered in prisons.
"We need help to develop a map of where we were a few years ago," McReynolds said.
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March 23, 2006
Overhaul of probation system urged
By JOHN MORITZ
STAR-TELEGRAM AUSTIN BUREAU
AUSTIN - Even though Gov. Rick Perry vetoed legislation last year designed
to ease restrictions on nonviolent offenders who are placed on probation,
lawmakers should try again to pass similar legislation to reduce prison crowding
and help rehabilitate low-level lawbreakers, a legislative panel was told
Wednesday.
The House Corrections Committee heard testimony from probation officials and advocacy groups who said that closer monitoring of probationers and treatment programs for people with substance-abuse problems have gone a long way to keep nonviolent offenders from straying.
"Texas cannot sustain a broken probation system and the escalating cost of prison overcrowding," said Ana Yanez Correa, who heads the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, a watchdog group that monitors trends in prison, parole and probation policies.
Correa was an enthusiastic supporter of a probation-overhaul measure that easily passed the Legislature last year but was vetoed by Perry after several prosecutors raised objections.
The bill would have reduced probation for some felonies from 10 years to five, boosted funding for drug courts and community-service programs, and given judges greater oversight over probationers. Supporters said the bill would lighten the workload of probation officers and lead to fewer probation revocations because of rule violations such as failing to pay fees.
In his veto message, Perry pointed out that the state budget lawmakers approved for the 2006-07 cycle contained money for several regions of the state to hire more probation officers and develop innovative programs to prevent offenders from having their probation revoked.
Tom Plumlee, who heads the Tarrant County adult probation offices and a statewide probation advisory panel, said the extra money has helped cut officers' caseloads. But more must be done to change what he called the "culture of probation" that in some cases encourages officers to recommend revocation for minor transgressions.
"If somebody misses a [meeting with a probation officer], he goes to jail," Plumlee said. But if an officer can find out why the probationer failed to report and can correct the behavior, the probationer will have a better chance of succeeding, he added.
"When you fix that part of it, you can make some positive changes," said Plumlee, whose office oversees about 20,000 probationers.
The corrections committee is gathering information on what legislation it might offer when lawmakers return to Austin in January for the regular legislative session. The earliest any bill could be filed is December.
The panel also heard testimony that the state's 151,000-bed prison system is operating near capacity and that more money might be needed to lease space from local jails and private correctional facilities.
Bonita White, director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's community justice assistance division, told the panel that judges statewide have said the state needs additional drug-treatment programs for probationers.
"We need more substance-abuse treatment ... so people don't go from one violation to prison," White said.
Plumlee said most cases that arrive at his office involve drug and alcohol abuse.
"Most of them are nonviolent property offenders," he said. "And of course, drug use drives just about most everything."
