Governor Beebe's Weekly Column and Radio Address: Reforming Our Corrections System

Statement

The number of inmates incarcerated in our state penitentiaries is growing at an unsustainable rate, and it's costing Arkansas's taxpayers millions of additional dollars every year. We need to find alternative ways to punish and rehabilitate criminal offenders without building expensive new prisons; ways to make Arkansas more safe with less cost. Prison beds can be saved for violent offenders, keeping people off the street who would hurt you. Non-violent offenders can be punished differently, with incarceration as an option if they don't take advantage of the opportunity.

This week, I received some important recommendations that we hope will produce that very result, steps that can be taken to improve public safety, hold offenders accountable and slow prison growth by being smarter about how we deal with criminals after they have been arrested.

A working group of state legislators, law-enforcement officers, judges, legal officials and members of my staff have worked together for more than a year to analyze Arkansas's corrections system. In this partnership of our three branches of government, we have been assisted by a team from the Pew Center on the States. This nonprofit organization has had success in other states, including Texas and Kansas, producing reforms that have improved public safety while reducing costs and recidivism rates. They have seen alternative sanctions given to non-violent offenders help turn their lives around and get them back on track, keeping them as productive members of society while still paying for their crimes.

The Arkansas partnership has resulted in a series of recommendations that will, along with input from other criminal-justice stakeholders, help craft legislation to be considered by the incoming General Assembly. The report says that, by taking action now, Arkansas can cut its prison population growth by 3,200 inmates over the next decade and save $875 million. The working group's report is available online for anyone to review.

Our task, moving forward, will be to forge consensus on a policy package that will keep our citizens safe, hold offenders accountable and contain corrections costs. We have to be smarter about whom we send to prison, and for how long. At the same time, we must strengthen our probation system and make changes to the ways we supervise and sanction offenders in the community. Finally, we will need to strengthen programs that curb recidivism and give those who have done their time better opportunities for a fresh start.

The stakes are very high.

If we do nothing, the prison population is projected to grow another 43 percent by 2020, costing taxpayers an additional $1.1 billion. Current state revenues cannot cover these additional costs, so the path we're on can only lead to tax increases if we fail to act, and act now.

Ensuring the safety of our people is an essential duty of state government. We must keep violent criminals and predators off our streets, and make certain that all offenders who owe our society are held responsible.

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