Parnell signs bill aimed at improving recidivism rates

MAT-SU — Gov. Sean Parnell signed a law Wednesday aimed at reducing recidivism rates in Alaska.

Senate Bill 64 amends portions of Alaska criminal law in order to reduce the rates at which inmates in Alaska prisons return to prison or are re-arrested after serving their sentences. The primary focus of the bill — now law — was to spare taxpayers the cost of increased prison populations, said state Sen. John Coghill (R — Fairbanks), the bill’s sponsor.

“We just built a prison out there, Goose Creek, and it cost a lot of money, and the cost per bed is getting higher and higher,” he said. “Some of us, Democrats and Republicans, we started a search around the nation for programs or things we could do. The Department of Corrections had already been searching through these.”

The law has several main foci. It expands an 24/7 sobriety program — called PACE in Alaska — modeled after similar successful programs in Hawaii and elsewhere, based on random alcohol testing for probationers. It re-establishes a 13-member panel composed of officials from law enforcement and the judiciary, part of a national debate over mandatory minimum and sentencing in general.

It provides for greater use of electronic monitoring, and makes it easier for offenders who are receiving substance abuse treatment at home to receive credit. It also raises dollar amounts for felony property theft originally set in 1967, separated by today by decades of inflation, Coghill said.

“We tried to raise the felony theft level,” he said. “If you steal a $500 bike, is it really worth it to get a jury, get a grand jury? The value to accountability is very low. I would much rather use misdemeanor law.”

“The reality is, is giving someone a felony sentence, and taking their voting rights away, worth it at $500?”

The bill also establishes a fund to provide money for programs targeted at helping recently released inmates adjust to life outside.

The bill was aimed at balancing demands for accountability with the cost of housing convicted criminals. The goal should allow the convicted to be productive in society while still holding them accountable, Coghill said.

“We are facing the dilemma of having to build a new jail because of the trajectory of our prison population,” he said.

The bill also increases the flexibility in dealing with those convicted of nonviolent offenses without the expense of housing them, a change mandated in part by the increasing percentage of prisoners convicted of misdemeanors, Coghill said.

“Our prison population has slipped from mostly felons to mostly misdemeanors,” he said. “For misdemeanors, there’s more we can do.”

Coghill praised his fellow legislators for their work on the bill. Parnell echoed those sentiments in a press release.

“I commend Senator Coghill for his diligent work to pass SB 64 and improve Alaska’s corrections system,” he said. “With this legislation, we are taking a big step toward lowering recidivism rates in Alaska while also reducing the cost to operate our jails and corrections programs. In the end, when we can achieve these things while keeping our public safety system strong, Alaskans benefit.”

As to whether the bill will have the desired effect of reducing recidivism in Alaska, that’s harder to say. The definition of what constitutes recidivism differs from state to state, and can also differ from agency to agency within the state, said Alaska Department of Law, Division of Corrections director John Skidmore.

“It is very common that we end up evaluating those numbers differently,” he said. “Is the conviction rate based on the case, is it based on the person, is it based on the number of counts, is it based on whether or not one of those counts has been reduced?”

The bill may represent an attempt to work on or eliminate a number of potential factors, rather than eliminate the problem altogether, Skidmore said.

Coghill is already examining two other potential issues affecting the recently convicted as potential targets for legislation.

“If somebody loses a driving license, is there some way we can get them to be productive if they’re being held accountable?” he said.

“The (Division of Motor Vehicles) and the court system have two administrative authorities and they don’t line up very well,” Coghill added.

The Legislature should also consider barriers to employment resulting from convictions, he said.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269 or brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com