Post by Logan on Jun 3, 2016 6:47:39 GMT -6
R.I. Senate panel OKs bills aimed at reforming probation system
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A legislative package that would change how the state’s probation system operates passed a significant milepost Thursday when the state Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously endorsed six bills and sent them on to the full Senate.
Corresponding legislation is still pending in the House.
The six bills, four of which were amended before being endorsed, were the product of a 10-month effort by the Council of State Governments, based in Lexington, Kentucky, and the state’s Justice Reinvestment Working Group, a 27-member panel created by Governor Raimondo to study the state’s probation system and recommend changes.
Rhode Island is in the top two or three states for the number of people on probation or parole per 100,000 residents. Last year, it had about 24,000 people on probation, almost eight times the number in the Adult Correctional Institutions. And the system is skewed racially, with 13 out of every 100 black adults in prison or on probation, compared to two out of every 100 white adults.
The working group’s final report said Rhode Island’s probation system was "in crisis." The state, it said, overused probation, didn’t track the people in it and overloaded the Adult Correctional Institutions by making it too easy to send probationers back. With the annual cost of imprisoning someone ranging from $54,000 to $83,000 a year, the group said the state could save millions by improving the system.
Read more: www.providencejournal.com/news/20160602/ri-senate-panel-oks-bills-aimed-at-reforming-probation-system
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A legislative package that would change how the state’s probation system operates passed a significant milepost Thursday when the state Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously endorsed six bills and sent them on to the full Senate.
Corresponding legislation is still pending in the House.
The six bills, four of which were amended before being endorsed, were the product of a 10-month effort by the Council of State Governments, based in Lexington, Kentucky, and the state’s Justice Reinvestment Working Group, a 27-member panel created by Governor Raimondo to study the state’s probation system and recommend changes.
Rhode Island is in the top two or three states for the number of people on probation or parole per 100,000 residents. Last year, it had about 24,000 people on probation, almost eight times the number in the Adult Correctional Institutions. And the system is skewed racially, with 13 out of every 100 black adults in prison or on probation, compared to two out of every 100 white adults.
The working group’s final report said Rhode Island’s probation system was "in crisis." The state, it said, overused probation, didn’t track the people in it and overloaded the Adult Correctional Institutions by making it too easy to send probationers back. With the annual cost of imprisoning someone ranging from $54,000 to $83,000 a year, the group said the state could save millions by improving the system.
Read more: www.providencejournal.com/news/20160602/ri-senate-panel-oks-bills-aimed-at-reforming-probation-system