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| North Dakota Prison to Offer Early Paroles as Cost-cutting Move |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 10/14/2002 |
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Some North Dakota prison inmates will be getting earlier releases on parole, in a cost-cutting move that the state corrections director believes will also improve public safety. Normally, paroled convicts have about three months of supervision once they are released from lockup. Under the new policy, the inmates will be released four months earlier, and will remain on parole for an average of seven months, rather than three. Elaine Little, director of the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said the longer supervisory period will give officials more time to evaluate how the former inmate is adjusting. Violent criminals and sex offenders will not be affected by the change, Little said. Under state law, they typically must serve most of their sentences before they are eligible to come before the Parole Board, which meets every month except December. Drug offenders will make up the biggest category of inmates who might be eligible for early release, the corrections director said. No inmate can qualify for early parole without completing recommended treatment, such as drug or alcohol abuse counseling. Prosecutors said recently they were unfamiliar with the planned changes, and some said they had reservations. Lonnie Olson, the Ramsey County state's attorney, said he was skeptical of giving convicted drug dealers an early release. Olson said he understood that prison crowding and budget pressures are making state officials consider earlier releases as an option. 'The Department of Corrections is caught between a rock and a hard place,' he said. Little said the program could make 100 prison beds available during the next two-year state budget period. Locking up a prison inmate costs about $50 daily, which translates into savings of more than $3.6 million over two years, she said. Lawmakers want to slow down the soaring growth of corrections spending. North Dakota's corrections budget is $102 million over two years, and state general fund spending has jumped 27 percent over the same period. |
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