Opinion ID: 2150185
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: hearing on the council's petition to adopt its sentencing guidelines

Text: In April 2007, we heard argument on the Council's petition. The chairman, Kermit Brashear, spoke for the Council. He stated that in June 2006, the prison population had reached the emergency level-140 percent of capacity [15] and was currently around 139 percent of capacity. He further stated that if action were not taken, another prison would have to be built. Brashear also reported that in a 6-year period, the budget for the Department of Correctional Services had doubled from $60 million to $120 million, and that it would double again at a time when the State was facing declining revenues. He stated that the Council had targeted nonviolent felony drug offenders in its initial guidelines because these offenders make up 27 percent of the maximum-security prison population. The Council believed many offenders could be diverted into alternative correction programs. Finally, Brashear stated that treatment within prisons is the least effective but most costly way of dealing with drug offenders and reducing their recidivism. He reported that incarceration costs $30,000 per year for each offender, while substance abuse supervision programs cost about $3,000 per year and are more effective in reducing recidivism.