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| Idaho prison system reporting progress, more work in store on justice reinvestment… |
| By spokesman.com- Betsy Z. Russell |
| Published: 02/09/2017 |
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Idaho’s prison system, which currently has about 8,000 inmates behind bars and 16,000 people under supervision statewide, is up for just a very small budget increase next year, with Gov. Butch Otter recommending a 1.4 percent increase in state general funds, and a decrease of 1.1 percent in total funds. Henry Atencio, director of the Idaho Department of Correction, told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee that the department is continuing to move ahead with reforms under the state’s Justice Reinvestment Initiative, which is aimed at reserving prison cell space for the most dangerous offenders. “We don’t have time to take a break,” Atencio told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee at his agency budget hearing on Wednesday. “We have to keep moving forward with the reforms.” In addition to the overall push from justice reinvestment to beef up probation and parole supervision and target it to those inmates who need it the most, initiatives are now under way, he said, on restrictive housing reform; coming into compliance with a federal law seeking to prevent prison rape; and improving the state’s “re-entry system,” to ensure inmates who are released into Idaho communities successfully make the transition. As part of restrictive housing reform, a push that started under former Director Kevin Kempf, large numbers of restrictive housing beds, used to isolate inmates for disciplinary reasons, have been eliminated, freeing up more beds for the general prison population, Atencio said. He said officials have learned that isolating an inmate in a restrictive housing cell for weeks on end doesn’t work to change their behavior; other sanctions, including restricting privileges like visiting and property, are working better. “Our staff monitor their behavior,” Atencio said. “We believe that we have a better chance of improving behavior … than putting someone by themselves in a cell in detention.” Read More. |
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