By Alison Lawrence
“Kentucky was the prison capitol of the world. Our prison population was growing at rate of 45 percent while the rest of the country was growing at 13 percent,” Kentucky Representative John Tilley (D) told appropriation chairs and budget directors during NCSL's Western Fiscal Leaders meeting in Incline Village, Nev., on the north shore of Lake Tahoe.
Utah Representative Eric Hutchings (R) told the group he found the Legislature was creating about 40 new felonies per year. This, along with high rates of probationers and parolees being sent to prison for supervision rule violations, were causing Utah’s prison population to grow.
(NCSL's Alison Lawrence addresses the group during a session on corrections cost.)
As a result, Utah conducted a year-long study of its sentencing and corrections system and, with the assistance of The Pew Charitable Trusts, adopted legislation in early 2015 to safely curb prison growth. Utah has projected that these reforms will save the state at least $14 million over the next three years and has been able to reduce the size of a new prison currently being built.
The new law prioritizes prison space for serious and violent offenders, improves probation and parole supervision, and provides resources to local supervision agencies. Pew estimates the state stands to save $500 million over the next two decades.
Kentucky’s prison population changed course after a 2011 law made substantial changes to the state’s sentencing and corrections laws. The law requires diversion and treatment of some drug offenders, and improves probation and parole supervision with risk assessments, graduated sanctions for rule violations and evidence-based supervision.
Today, the prison population is slowing and the state will use $56 million in realized savings to increase availability of drug treatment programs
for nonviolent offenders and to increase teacher salaries.
(Utah Representative Eric Hutchings (center) and Representative John Tilley from Kentucky during the session on corrections costs.)
Kentucky and Utah are not alone. At least half of states have adopted significant changes to their sentencing and corrections laws since 2009. Many of these are part of “justice reinvestment” efforts, a public-private partnership of Pew and the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance that assists states with these reforms.
What’s their blueprint for successful reforms? Hutchings and Tilley agreed the keys are using sound data to identify the drivers of prison growth, building coalitions with key criminal justice stakeholders, and securing bipartisan support for legislation.
Alison Lawrence specializes in sentencing and corrections for NCSL.
Email Alison