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| Report: Time behind bars increases in ND |
| By thedickinsonpress.com - April Baumgarten |
| Published: 06/12/2012 |
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Inmates in North Dakota and across the country are spending more time behind bars than they did 20 years ago, according to a report from the Pew Center on the States in Washington, D.C. Officials said it is good for the public but not the defendant. “A lot of these cases are being overcharged,” Dickinson criminal defense attorney Vince Ficek said Monday. “I’ve been doing criminal defense for 35 years, and it just seems like it’s tougher.” The average offender released in 2009 spent two years in custody, nine months or 54 percent more than those in 1990, according to the study. Extra time served costs North Dakotans $23.2 million more in taxes, according to the report. Convicts served an average of 36 percent longer across the United States, which cost citizens more than $10 billion, according to the report. South Dakota was among eight states that reduced overall time served with 24 percent less, according to the report. The North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reported an average daily population of about 1,500 throughout the state for the 2011 fiscal year. Two females and 56 males are serving life sentences. The majority of prisoners — 826 inmates — were admitted with a sentence of one to five years in the same fiscal year. The sentences did not include good time, credit for time served or parole relief. Read More. |
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