State legislator to speak on sentencing overhaul

LITTLE ROCK — A state lawmaker who helped pass an overhaul to Arkansas’ sentencing and prisons law will discuss the changes with other state leaders at a conference Saturday.

Act 570 of 2011 changed whom Arkansas sends to prison, how long they stay there and how they are handled when they leave in an effort to reduce the state’s prison growth rate.

It changed the parole and probation process, and reduced sentences for drug crimes and theft in order to maintain enough space in prison for people who have committed violent crimes.

Rep. Darrin Williams, DLittle Rock, along with legislators, judges and members of the executive branch from 13 other states, was invited by The Pew Center on the States Public Safety Performance Project and the Council of State Governments to speak at a day-long meeting about sentencing and corrections policy in Austin, Texas, according to a news release from the House.

“We were all invited because of our roles in our state’s effort,” Williams said. “Maybe we can glean things that will help other states as they try to advance their effort.”

The meeting is part of the Council of State Governments’ 2012 Conference. Williams said his travel and other costs will be paid for by the Pew Center and the council.

The overhaul was based on a January 2011 study by the Pew Center, which found that the imposition of long sentences for nonviolent offenses, too little use of probation and alternative punishments, and delays in transfers to parole status were causing Arkansas’ prison population to expand at too great a rate.

The report found that if the state did nothing, Arkansas’ prison population would rise by 43 percent by 2020, about an additional 6,500 inmates.

The Arkansas Department of Correction has seen a drop in prison admissions since the law was passed. Some legislators have said they are concerned that Act 570 made some punishments too lenient and that probation and parole officers are unprepared to supervise so many additional people.

In 2011, the prison population dropped by 7.1 percent. The department estimated in its budget request to legislators that the male prison population would grow an average of 2.7 percent per year between 2012 and 2022.