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| Economic crisis propels prison system changes |
| By Shelley Nelson - Superior Telegram |
| Published: 03/04/2009 |
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Superior, WI - With the cost of housing just one of the state’s 23,000 prison inmates at $29,000 per year, the Wisconsin is looking for ways to get smart on crime. Department of Corrections Secretary Rick Raemisch was in Superior on Monday to meet with local law enforcement to highlight some of the changes proposed as the state faces a $5.7 billion budget shortfall. Among the changes is a new evaluation system that could keep low-risk, nonviolent offenders out of state prisons and low-risk offenders who’ve committed misdemeanor crimes off the state’s probation system. Superior Police Capt. Chad La Lor said Monday’s session was the first he heard of dropping supervision for misdemeanor offenders. He said even if offenders aren’t actively supervised, probation provides a mechanism to bring an offender in quicker when they reoffend. “You get in this cycle ‘it’s a minor crime,’ but when there are true victims, there are no minor crimes,” La Lor said. The budget for corrections is about $1.2 billion, a cost that could double in the next 10 years if the state doesn’t develop new strategies, Raemisch said. “There always will be a need for prisons to house violent criminals who pose a threat to public safety, but … we need to invest in strategies beyond prison expansion to curtail corrections spending and reduce recidivism,” Raemisch said. The budget proposed by Gov. Jim Doyle for the next two years would start the state on that path. The goal of the new strategy is to protect public safety by keeping violent offenders in prison, but providing opportunities for nonviolent offenders to complete treatment so they can succeed and become productive citizens when they return to their communities, Raemisch said. Under the proposed changes, offenders would be evaluated to determine the level of risk they pose to the community and provide services to help low-risk offenders. The state would expand services in the Earned Release Program to provide services needed for successful reintegration in the community. Currently, drug and alcohol treatment are provided, but an offender may need education and job skills, Raemisch said. He said the goal is to provide what the offender needs. Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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