By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas can reduce its prison population by 3,200 inmates over the next decade and save $875 million by holding offenders more accountable, reducing the number of low-risk drug offenders in prison and expanding medical parole for terminally ill convicts, according to a report released today.
If nothing is done, the report said, the state’s prison population will rise by as much as 43 percent, about 6,500 inmates by 2021.
Today, the state Department of Correction held 14,215 inmates in prison units built to house 13,114. Another 1,661 state prisoners were backed up in county jails awaiting bed space in the chronically overcrowded prison system.
Gov. Mike Beebe, who created the working group that generated Tuesday’s report, said he hopes to have bills drafted and ready for the Legislature to consider by the middle of the regular session that convenes next Monday.
“This is a first step, but an important step,” Beebe said during a news conference at the Capitol.
“We must take action to curb the growth in our corrections system without compromising public safety. These recommendations will help us do that,” the governor said. “If we do nothing, according to the projections, then we’re going to have huge tax increases to pay for the additional bed space and additional cost.”
The working group began meeting nearly a year ago and enlisted technical assistance from the Pew Center on the States to help craft the series of recommendations for opening more prison space for hardened criminals and diverting lesser offenders to alternative punishment.
Some of the other recommendations in the report include:
—Improving supervision of offenders on probation and parole.
—Implementing pilot programs that couple random drug testing with swift sanctions.
—Holding offenders accountable by improving victim restitution and raising probation fees.
—Developing uniform eligibility criteria and performance measures for drug courts.
—Using prison space for violent and career criminals.
—Revising drug and property laws to distinguish between drug users and career criminals.
—Accelerating electronic monitoring for low-level offenders.
—Expanding medical parole for criminals with terminal illnesses.
Arkansas Chief Justice Jim Hannah, who participated on the working group, said during today’s news conference that judges should remember that there are alternatives to simply throwing people in jail.
“The power to incarcerate is the most expensive weapon in the judge’s arsenal,” Hannah said. “We should not assume that incarceration is the only answer. Nor should we assume that incarceration is the most cost effective way to improve public safety. I believe that we can do better and we must do better.”
North Little Rock Police Chief Danny Bradley, also a member of the group, said enacting the recommendations would “ensure that prison beds are available for serious offenders and career criminals, and that effective alternative sanctions are available for those who can be safely supervised in the community.”
The report also recommended that the Department of Community Correction be given greater authority to deal with those on probation without having to go back to court.
Also, the report said raising the fees levied on parolees and probationers from $25 to $35 a month would generate an additional $250,000 a month, with the bulk of that going to community-based correction programs.
