Legislators heard 24 recommendations Tuesday from the Arkansas Department of Community Correction to reduce the state's recidivism rate and improve programs to help prisoners re-enter society.
Department Director Sheila Sharp said the state's current rate of recidivism hovers around 42 percent to 44 percent. Recidivism refers to offenders who commit additional crimes within three years of release from prison.
But that number likely will increase because of the record number of parolees -- nearly 10,000 -- who will be released this year, she said. More than half of those released are expected to return to prison because of tightened restrictions on the parole system that were passed in 2013 after a high-profile murder in Little Rock.
"One of the things we're wrestling with is folks who come back to the community, who served their time, and the biggest contribution they make is to add to that statistic" of recidivism, said Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, who sponsored the legislation that required a study of recidivism among parolees.
Act 1190 of 2013 required the department to study areas including education, employment, building community partners, housing, transportation and health care that might reduce recidivism.
Department of Community Correction officials estimated that the study's recommendations would cost about $16.6 million to implement -- with about $4.1 million being spent on new parole officers in the first year and about $5.6 million for new parole officers the second year.
Kevin Murphy, assistant director of the Community Correction Department, said those 200 or so new probation and parole officers would reduce the average 130 cases each parole officer now handles daily.
"I don't know of any other business that would have a caseload that high. Ask a teacher if they want 130 students in their classroom," he said.
"I can tell you that the majority of time they fight fires. To be able to have time ... to assist somebody to find a job or provide the appropriate programming, such as substance abuse ... they're busy with the ones that are either going to get out of jail or get put in jail."
But the recommendations come as the Legislature looks at several other costly proposals to reduce crowding in state prisons and the overflow of state prisoners in county jails.
Counties have complained about the $7.7 million they're owed by the state for housing 2,200-2,600 prisoners daily.
State prison officials plan to ask the Legislature to build a 1,000-bed, maximum-security prison to relieve some of the crowding, but lawmakers have voiced concerns about the Board of Corrections' plan to raise the funding for the $100 million construction cost. The board is proposing to use bond money to build the prison and increase the state's license plate fee by about $2 each, depending on the financing plan the Legislature chooses to pay it off.
The recommendations presented Tuesday would revamp many parts of the state's re-entry program, including building re-entry centers throughout the state with up to 4,000 beds. Murphy said 2,000-2,500 beds was a more realistic goal, given the current need.
The recommendations also call for increasing the planning that goes into discharging a prisoner and streamlining the process to help prisoners get photo identification cards upon their release if allowed. Some prisoners have holds on receiving new ID cards because of the type of crime they committed or because they owe child support.
Murphy said his staff has started compiling names of prisoners who are up for release and would work with them to obtain copies of birth certificates to make the ID process easier.
But the state Department of Finance and Administration estimated that more than $125,000 and a new staff position would be needed to process the licenses of about 750 prisoners released monthly.
Sen. Eddie Joe Williams, R-Cabot, questioned the price tag.
"I don't want to go to the chapel and not get married. ... We really need a plan to be able to move forward," he said. "This is a partnership; when you throw out numbers like that, I hope that we've substantiated [them] and that's the only alternative."
Some of the other recommendations include mentoring programs, an online re-entry portal, using social impact bonds as part of a "Pay for Success" model and offering up to $1,000 in annual tax credits to businesses that employ high-risk former prisoners and up to $750 in credits for businesses that hire low-risk or moderate-risk offenders.
The study was finished after the Community Correction Department had worked through its annual budget request, which did not include the recommendations.
Sharp said the recommendations will be a part of her budget proposal next year. The study did not include ways to pay for the measures or offset the tax credits. The full study and recommendations can be found at dcc.arkansas.gov/publications/Documents/publications/Act-1190%20-%20Comprehensive-Final-Report.pdf.
The House and Senate Judiciary committees and House and Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs committees also heard more details during a joint hearing Tuesday about other proposals to reduce prison crowding. Representatives from the Arkansas Association of Counties and the Arkansas Sheriffs' Association addressed the committees, asking legislators to keep in mind the county sheriffs' burden in dealing with crowded prisons.
"I think historically a couple years ago we got up to 1,850 prisoners [in county jails]. We can't take 2,500 prisoners in our county jails," said Mark Whitmore, chief legal counsel for the Arkansas Association of Counties. "I think the sheriffs agree that we need multiple tools to address this problem. What we need from the Legislature is for the state system to function in a way that it does not debilitate the ability of the county judge to manage the functions at the jails."
Building a new prison "three years from now" and increasing re-entry efforts do not address the immediate problem that the counties face housing state prisoners, Whitmore said.
Jackson County Sheriff David Lucas, who is the president of the sheriffs' association, said his 26-bed jail was running at 200 percent capacity before he asked for a court order to house only violent offenders.
The move has reduced fine revenue because offenders aren't afraid of being locked up if they don't pay fines, he said, and it has increased costs because of the need to track offenders with ankle monitors when there's no room in the jail.
The two advocated for more alternative-sentencing programs, such as drug-court diversion programs; increasing the per diem rate for housing state prisoners; and other measures to limit the number of state prisoners in county jails to a 1,600-prisoner cap. Lucas also said he would support sending prisoners to a private facility to reduce crowding in the short term.
Representatives of LaSalle Southwest Corrections, a private company that operates prison facilities in several areas of Louisiana and Georgia as well as a holding facility in Texarkana and holding facilities in Texas, also spoke to the committee to explain how a private prison could help ease crowding immediately. Managing Director Billy McConnell said the company would be able to take about 500 prisoners starting next week.
"We're here just to offer another tool for your toolbox," he said.
McConnell said the company would charge between $27.50 and $28.50 per prisoner per day depending on the number the state would commit to sending to its facilities.
Several legislators had previously questioned whether the proposal would cover medical costs or whether the state would lose its indemnity against certain kinds of lawsuits.
McConnell said his company would have an in-house nurse and other medical staff as well as a doctor who visited weekly or twice a week. But he said hospital care, such as surgeries and prescription drugs, would have to be covered by the state at what he estimated would be a cost of $10 to $12 per inmate per day.
He said the company would sign an agreement that any incident or conditions that contributed to a lawsuit while a prisoner was in its custody, including transport to and from the state, would be covered through its insurance. McConnell said the company has never been found culpable in court for any lawsuits that have been filed against it.
Rep. Jim Nickels, D-Sherwood, raised several concerns in reviews and inspection reports that he found when looking at the company and asked McConnell and the other representatives for thorough explanations, which he said he hoped other legislators would require during a bidding process that would have to take place if the Legislature voted to approve sending prisoners to a private facility.
A Section on 12/03/2014