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| Report: Alternative Sentencing Programs Can Save Money |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 02/09/2004 |
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A think tank said last Monday the key to reducing the state's prison costs is to divert more inmates into alternative sentencing programs. The New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies said the Department of Corrections can cut prison costs without risking public safety if it aggressively manages alternative programs. Rick Minard, the center's co-executive director, attributed a steady increase in prison costs to an explosion in the inmate population, which has grown 600 percent since 1981. The state's population grew 35 percent during the same period. New Hampshire had 337 inmates in 1981. On Dec. 31, 2003, it had 2,438, a slight drop from its peak of 2,534 in October 2002. The cost is about $22,000 annually per inmate. Minard said two key policy decisions drove the growth: a 1982 truth-in-sentencing law requiring inmates to serve longer sentences; and the Parole Board's decision to put probation and parole violators back in prison. "What is not driving the growth in the state prison population is any apparent growth in serious crime in New Hampshire," the center reported. |
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