Dennis Delay NH Center for Public Policy Studies

1. State Prison Reform – Post SB500 Dennis Delay NH Center for Public Policy Studies “…to raise new ideas and improve policy debates through quality information and analysis on issues shaping New Hampshire’s future.” 1 1

2. The Need to Reform – State Prison Inmates Increasing

3. The Need to Reform – Parole Violators Increasing

4. The Need to Reform – Higher Corrections Spending Expected

5. Corrections in NH After SB500 • What were the goals of SB500? • What were the changes made to SB500 in SB52? • Evidence of “cost shifting”? • Changes to the inmate population, overall prison costs, and the state crime rate, etc.

6. Goals of Justice Reinvestment • Reduce Inmate Population and Spending on Corrections • Reinvest savings in treatment and sanction programs • Increase public safety by reducing recidivism. • Findings presented in January 2010, leading to SB500 legislation. Source: Justice Reinvestment report to New Hampshire

7. Goals of SB500 • Focus community-based supervision resources on high-risk offenders. • Use short, swift and certain sanctions, including jail time, to reduce crime and revocation rates among people sentenced to felony probation. • Establish an intermediate sanction program and a designated parole revocation facility to respond more effectively to parole violations. • Ensure that high-risk probationers and parolees with serious addiction and/or mental health disorders are monitored with rapid drug tests and have access to treatment programs. • Ensure everyone leaving prison receives at least nine months of post-release, community-based supervision. • Reinforce truth-in-sentencing by requiring nonviolent, property, and drug offenders to serve 100 to 120 percent of their minimum sentence. Source: NH Department of Corrections, June 2010

8. SB500 Corrections Reform Lowered Number of Inmates

9. Parole Revocations Did Not Change Post SB500

10. Fewer Inmates Did Create Corrections Savings

11. Recidivism Rates Have Been Declining!

12. State Prison Reform Did Not Lead to More Crime

13. County Jail Expenditures Up Only Moderately

14. Local Police Expenditures Up Only Moderately

15. 2011 Reaction to SB500 • Violent offenders and sexual offenders were released to parole (and community supervision) nine months before the expiration of their sentence. • SB52 was enacted over public concern that SB500 limited the ‘discretion’ of the adult parole board, and the “high profile” release of violent offenders.

16. Goals of SB52 • Excludes a prisoner convicted of a violent crime or a sexually violent offense from mandatory early supervised release if the parole board votes to do so. • Provides the parole board with greater discretion to recommit a person who reoffends while on mandatory early supervised release. • Requires that an offender placed on probation or parole for conviction of a felony offense that would require registration as a sexual offender or an offender against children shall not be placed on administrative supervision.

17. SB52 Changes Have Reversed the Trend (Inmates Increasing Again)

18. Releases Declined in Early 2012

19. Releases to Parole (90 Day Supervision) Decline

20. Summary • SB500 enacted in July 2010 accomplished its goals of reducing state prison inmate population and bending the cost curve. • SB52 enacted in Oct of 2011 caused inmate population to increase again. • Less savings from reduced state prison inmate population could lead to less “justice reinvestment”.