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State leadership created the bipartisan, inter-branch, inter-governmental Missouri Working Group on Sentencing and Corrections.The Working Group was charged with issuing recommendations for the 2012 legislative session. The Working Group learned about best practices from other states, identified the drivers of Missouri’s prison population, audited current agency policy, and developed policy recommendations. The group also solicited input and feedback from a task force of local officials that included victim advocates, prosecutors, sheriffs, public defenders, judges, police, and other county officials.

Working Group on Sentencing and Corrections


Legislative Members

Sen. Jack Goodman (co-chair)Sen. Jolie JustusSen. Mike ParsonRep. Chris Kelly (co-chair)Rep. Gary FuhrRep. Penny Hubbard

Working Group Members

Judicial and Executive Branch Members

Judge W. Ray PriceJudge David DolanJason Lamb, MOPSCat Kelly, Public Defender SystemPage Bellamy, AG’s OfficeGail Vasterling, Governor’s OfficeDOC Director George LombardiParole Chairman Ellis McSwain


Missouri’s Prison Population

-

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

July 31, 2012

30,739

2000-2005

+17%

1990-2000

+82%

20111990 1995 2000 2005

2005-2011

+1%


Missouri’s Supervision Caseload

56,000

58,000

60,000

62,000

64,000

66,000

68,000

70,000

72,000

74,000

76,000

FY 2011

73,904

20112001 2003 2005 2007 2009

Source: Missouri Department of Corrections


Missouri’s Spending on Corrections

Up 39% since 2000

2000: 5.8% of General Fund Expenditures

2009: 7% of General Fund Expenditures

1 in 6.4 Full-Time State Employees Works in Corrections

DOC reported budget of $660 Million in FY 2011

www.pewcenteronthestates.comSource: Pew Center on the States, “Prison Count 2010” report

Return on Investment

• Between 1999 and 2009, Missouri’s crime rate did not fall as much as other states, while it’s imprisonment rate increased.

• While the state’s recidivism rate has improved in recent years, nearly 4 in 10 inmates released from prison will return within two years.


Who Is Being Admitted To Prison?• Nearly ¾ of admissions are

revocations for violations of probation and parole supervision.

• More than 7,800 (43%) admissions are for technical violations of supervision.

• 83% of probationers revoked to prison are non-violent. 63% of all prison admissions are non-violent.

• Most revocations occur in the first year of supervision and the vast majority (90%) occur before the end of the second year.

New Court Commit-

ments27%

Probation Technical Vio-

lations21%

Probation Law Vio-lations

10%

Parole Technical Revoca-

tions22%

Parole Law Violations

18%


Basis of Recommendations

• Based on goals and findings, the Working Group focused on strengthening community supervision and addressing revocations to prison.

• The Working Group based its recommendations on five key principles of Evidence-Based Practice:• Target risk and need factors• Frontload resources• Administer swift, certain and proportional sanctions for

violations• Incorporate rewards and incentives• Balance surveillance with treatment


Working Group Policy Response

• Earned discharge: Offers an incentive for compliance, targets high-risk offenders, and frontloads supervision resources.

• Administrative jail sanctions: Deters violations and addresses them, when they do happen, with swift, certain and proportional sanctions.

•Mandatory placement in 120-day program for first technical revocation: Concentrates prison space on most serious offenders.


Recommendation: Strengthen Supervision and Reduce Revocations to Prison

• Allow offenders to earn their way off supervision if they are following the rules:

• Probationers and parolees will receive 30 days off of their supervision term for every 30 days of compliance.

• Offers an incentive for good behavior, targets high-risk offenders, and frontloads supervision resources.

• Administer swift and certain sanctions to those who violate the rules:

• Probation and parole officers will now be able to send offenders to jail for violations of supervision. The first jail sanction will be 48 hours. Counties will be reimbursed $30/day for housing these offenders.

• Deters violations and more effectively punishes those who are most likely to commit new crimes.


Recommendation: Strengthen Supervision and Reduce Revocations to Prison (cont.)

• Cap revocation time at 120 days for probationers who commit technical violations of supervision on their first revocation to prison:

• Probationers revoked for a technical violation must be placed in one of the Department of Corrections’ 120-day shock incarceration or drug treatment programs. This requirement only applies to nonviolent offenders and excludes anyone who has committed a new crime or whose violations include absconding, weapons violations, or violations of domestic violence stay-away orders.

• Ensures that sanctions are proportional to the violation and prison space is used for violent, chronic, and career criminals.


Recommendation: Ongoing Oversight and Improvement

• Create an oversight group to monitor implementation of the reforms and evaluate outcomes:

• Establish a bipartisan, inter-branch, inter-governmental body to monitor progress, ensure deadlines are met, certify annual savings, and recommend reinvestment into evidence-based practices.

• Require agencies to collect data, measure performance and report results.


What is the Projected Impact on the Prison Population and DOC Budget?

• The Justice Reinvestment Act is estimated to reduce the prison population by 200 inmates and the supervision population by nearly 1,500 offenders.

• This package is estimated to save the state nearly $5 million by 2017.

• $4 million of those savings will be reinvested at the local level as part of the swift and certain jail sanctions program.

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