Around Arkansas


Pew Center study targets jail problems, costs Gov. Mike Beebe applauded the efforts of a


statewide working group that, with the assistance from the Pew Center on the States, has proposed recommendations aimed at containing prison growth and costs while improving public safety. Te governor held a press conference Jan. 4 to announce the findings of the Consensus Report of the Arkansas Working Group on Sentencing and Corrections. Gov. Beebe said he hopes to see legislation come out of the current session which reflect the findings. “By taking action now, Arkansas can cut its prison population growth by 3,200 inmates over the next decade and save $875 million,” he said, citing figures in the study. Unless action is taken, prison growth over the


next decade is forecast to require an additional $1.1 billion in state funds. “Tis is a first step, but an important


step,” Beebe said. “We must take action to curb the growth in our corrections system without compromising public safety. Tese recommendations will help us do just that.” Reflecting his agreement with the study’s findings, the governer added: “We have to be smarter about whom we send to prison, and for how long. At the same time, we must strengthen our probation system and make changes to the ways we supervise and sanction offenders in the community. Finally, we will need to strengthen programs that curb recidivism and give those who have done their time better opportunities for a fresh start.”


In the study Some of the findings of the study: Over the past 20 years, Arkansas’s prison population has more than doubled to 16,000- plus inmates. Tis has come at a significant cost to state taxpayers: Corrections spending has skyrocketed from $45 million to $349 million per year, and now consumes eight percent of the state general fund. Despite this growth in prison population and spending, Arkansans are getting a poor return on their public safety dollars: Recidivism and crime rates remain stubbornly high. If left unchecked, Arkansas’s prison popula- tion will rise by as much as 43 percent in the


COUNTY LINES, WINTER 2011


next decade at a cumulative cost of $1.1 billion. Te Arkansas Working Group proposed


these reforms: 1. Protect public safety and reduce recidivism


by strengthening community supervision, 2. Improve government efficiency and sus-


tain progress through performance measure- ment, and 3. Concentrate prison space on violent and


career criminals.


Pew Analysis reveals that the prison popula- tion is growing in large part because the state is increasingly sending non-violent offenders to prison, holding inmates behind bars for longer terms by increasing sentence lengths, and delay- ing transfer to parole.


Citing an under-utilization of probation, the


work group discovered that: Due in part to a perception among judges and prosecutors that the Department of Community Correction (DCC) lacks the resources and authority neces- sary to effectively supervise, sanction and sup- port offenders, courts have been sentencing a greater proportion of offenders to prison. In 2009, admissions to probation fell 5 per- cent while admissions to prison grew 7 percent. Te cumulative effect of this trend, when traced back several years, is that Arkansas’s probation supervision rate is now 23 percent lower than the national average, while its imprisonment rate is above the national average. Arkansas’s rate of inmate growth is among the nation’s highest, according to the Pew study.


The background For several years, Arkansas has housed a modest share (usually under 10 percent) of its state inmates in local jails. As the state prison population grew, this practice placed an addi- tional burden on local government budgets. In response, Gov. Beebe established the Task


Force on Overcrowding in 2009. Trough modest policy changes and a revised jail re- imbursement rate, the Task Force temporarily succeeded in reducing the strain caused by the jail backlog. Tis process, however, revealed the need to address larger, more systemic issues re- lated to the state prison population. In November 2009, Gov. Beebe, Chief Jus-


tice Jim Hannah and leaders from the Arkansas Senate and House of Representatives requested technical assistance from the Public Safety Per- formance Project of the Pew Center on the States (Pew) to explore ways to protect public safety, including strengthening community cor- rections, while controlling the size and cost of the prison system. Pew and its partners have provided similar assistance in more than a doz- en states. Te group began meeting monthly at the Association of Arkansas Counties.


Some particulars Some specific ideas the work group has pro- posed include revising drug and property stat- utes, and distinguishing between drug users an career criminals. • Separate “Possession with Intent to Deliv-


er” (PWID) from “Manufacturing and Deliv- ery” in law and set punishments appropriate to the offense. • Equalize penalties for cocaine and metham- phetamine offenses and raise the weight ceiling for possession so that less serious offenders can be placed on felony probation if deemed appro- priate by the court. • Modernize stolen property thresholds for felony theft of less than $25,000. Another key, according to the study, would be to accelerate release to electronic monitoring for low-level offenders: • Grant the Parole Board authority to release inmates with an approved parole plan to elec- tronic supervision after 120 days if their recom- mended sentence from the sentencing guide- lines did not include a term of incarceration in the presumptive range. • Require DCC to supervise eligible inmates with electronic monitoring until their original transfer eligibility date or 90 days of full com- pliance, followed by mandatory parole supervi- sion until sentence expiration. Te group would also expand medical parole


to help contain incarceration costs. Tis could apply, for instance, to an inmate diagnosed with a terminal illness and a life expectancy of two years or less or as permanently incapacitated and posing no threat to public safety.


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