The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

Other budget-saving possibilities listed include making prisons more efficient, increasing work loads for prison staff, changing the way offenders are supervised in the community and expanding community treatment options.

"No one of these is a silver bullet and some are frankly counterproductive to the overall mission of the Department of Corrections and the system of criminal justice in Vermont," said the executive summary of the report.

In a message to his staff, Hofmann said the Legislature ordered the department last spring to put the brakes on the rate of growth in the Corrections budget.

"They were not actually requesting a reduction in the DOC budget, nor level-funding it, nor even restricting it to the average growth rate of other departments," Hofmann's message said. "They were essentially asking that we limit the budget increases to about double the growth of the overall General Fund.

"While this may seem reasonable on the surface, once you analyze the possible choices, the options are limited and difficult," he said.

The executive summary of the report called for a fundamental shift in the way Vermont deals with crime and the people who commit them.

"In the long run, the most effective way to reduce the demand for increased prison capacity is to increase the effectiveness of efforts at responding to crime and misbehavior in the community," the report said.

For years the Legislature has been funding steady increases in the budget of the Corrections Department, recently more than 10 percent a year. Between 2000 and 2007 the Corrections budget increased 74 percent, to $130 million.

Over the past two decades the number of people in custody in Vermont has almost tripled while the violent crime rate has stayed the same. The report detailed how courts are imposing tougher sentences for a variety of offenses, including drug crimes, driving under the influence of alcohol and domestic violence.

Vermont is already a national leader in finding alternative ways to deal with offenders, especially nonviolent first-time offenders.

"There are virtually no low re-offense risk, nonviolent offenders in prison," the report said.

The Legislature ordered the department to reduce incarceration costs by $4 million, with half of that to be reinvested in re-entry services. Lawmakers also recommended that the department reduce by 10 percent by the end of next June the number of inmates incarcerated for nonviolent offenses.

As of Wednesday, there were 1,621 people being held in Vermont prisons and another 518 being held out of state.

Some of the money saving suggestions in the report:

Closing one or more prisons.

Expanding existing facilities to increase efficiencies.

Refocusing a facility's mission.

Decrease, modify or eliminate supervision of lowest risk probationers.

Increase caseloads.

Increase use of alternate supervision strategies.

Maintain current staffing levels but add more offenders.

Lessen sanctions on selective nonviolent offenders.

Expand efforts with communities and treatment providers.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071213/NEWS04/712130387