Changes suggested for Mo. probation and parole system; allow rewards and quick sanctions | The Republic
"JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Missouri House committee Wednesday examined possible changes to the state's probation and parole system that could save the state millions and reduce the prison population by hundreds of inmates.
A special state task force recommended the changes, and the House committee has been meeting to study the criminal justice system before lawmakers return to the Capital in January.
The recommendations could save $7.7 million to $16.6 million over five years while reducing the prison population by 245 to 677 inmates. Missouri was incarcerating 30,777 people at the end of November, and the Legislature this year included more than $600 million in the total budget for the Department of Corrections. Some of the money that is saved could be plugged back into the criminal justice system.
The possible changes came from the Missouri Working Group on Sentencing and Corrections, which included officials from the legislative, executive and judicial branches. The working group said in its report that the recommendations are intended to improve public safety, hold offenders accountable and control costs.
State Supreme Court Judge William Ray Price, who served on the working group and presented its recommendations to the House committee Wednesday, said Missouri's current approach is expensive and ineffective. He said some, but not all, inmates belong in prison.
"We are trying to achieve better results for the safety of the Missouri people at a lower expense," Price said. "It's not a question about being soft on crime or hard on crime. It's a question of being smart on crime to get the best results for our people at the lowest expense."
Price was named to the Missouri Supreme Court in 1992 by then-Gov. John Ashcroft, a Republican. During his turn as chief justice over the past two years, Price highlighted the criminal justice system in speeches to a joint Legislature."
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