Kansas Governor Sam Brownback today held a ceremonial signing for HB 2170, a bill that makes significant modifications to the state’s probation and post-release supervision policies with the goal of improving public safety while keeping corrections costs in check. The legislation stems from recommendations made by a bipartisan, inter-branch working group of Kansans over the past year. The bill is projected to reduce the need for 841 additional prison beds and save $53 million in the next five years. In addition, the bill and expected appropriation are projected to reinvest $5 million in additional community-based substance abuse treatment and recidivism reduction programming over the same five year time frame.
“I’ve made it a priority during my time in Congress and now as Governor to ensure that we keep our communities safe and allow those individuals who are reentering society to positively contribute to society once they return from prison or jail,” Governor Brownback said. “These reforms will reduce recidivism, cut corrections costs, and increase public safety. They also ensure that even in these tough fiscal times we are making prudent decisions on behalf of Kansas taxpayers.”
Formed in June 2012, the working group, with support of staff from the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, reviewed analyses of millions of arrest, prison, and probation records, and solicited input from a wide range of stakeholders, including police chiefs, county and district attorneys, judges, and victim advocates. Their work, and the subsequent legislation, is part of a larger effort called Justice Reinvestment, a data-driven approach to reduce corrections spending and generate savings to reinvest in strategies that increase public safety.
“Public safety is at the heart of this legislation. These reforms show we can be tough on crime, but also be smart about how we go about doing that,” said Kansas Department of Corrections Secretary Ray Roberts. “This legislation allows us to make real strides in bending the curve downward in our prison population and providing the necessary resources and supervision to break the cycle of crime and addiction for individuals in the community.”
Highlights of HB 2170 include:
· Establishing swift and certain sanctions: Probation officers now have authority to impose 2-3 day jail stays for minor violations of probation.
· Imposing progressive sanctions: The courts are now authorized to impose intermediate sanctions of 120 or 180 days in prison for persistent technical violations in lieu of a full revocation.
· Focusing supervision resources on higher-risk offenders: There is now incentive for low-risk probationers and post-release supervision offenders to abide by the term of their supervision – the supervision period will end after 12 months if they maintain compliance.
“State leaders across the country are finding bipartisan consensus on a new set of policies aimed at nonviolent offenders that can reduce recidivism and cut costs to taxpayers,” said Adam Gelb, director of The Pew Charitable Trusts’ public safety performance project. “This legislation demonstrates that Kansas policymakers are serious about protecting public safety while keeping corrections costs under control.”
“The data-driven Justice Reinvestment approach works to achieve cost savings and public safety improvements at the same time,” said Denise O’Donnell, Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance in the U.S. Department of Justice. “With approval of this legislation, Kansas has set out to utilize the most current strategies in criminal justice that are tailored to the unique issues facing the state.”