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| Rate of Repeat Inmates Low in S.C. |
| By The State |
| Published: 01/27/2003 |
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South Carolina inmates who are freed go back to prison at almost half the national rate - and the state's rate is dropping steadily. That flies in the face of Gov.-elect Mark Sanford's contention that prison recidivism is one of the most critical problems he wants his new Corrections Department director to fix. Across the nation, 52 percent of about 273,000 freed inmates in 1994 were incarcerated again after three years. The most comparable figures available show that 32 percent of 11,843 S.C. inmates released in 1994 went back to prison within three years. But Sanford said a 32 percent rate is a 'pathetic measure' and unacceptable for South Carolina. It also does not fit with what police tell him about how often they arrest criminals who have already been in prison. 'If you look at the recidivism rate in South Carolina and in this country, there's something wrong with the criminal justice system.' When he raised the recidivism issue, Sanford did not know the rates. When he learned on Friday about the state's relatively good showing, he said, 'I would still say that we would look for any way possible to drive those numbers down.'' Sanford's choice to run the state's prisons, Jon Ozmint, said that 35 percent of S.C. inmates released each year return to prison. But the Corrections Department's most recent report shows the return rate is 28 percent. And that's within three years of an inmate's release - not annually as Ozmint said. The lock-up rate drops to 10 percent within a year of freedom. Those numbers are from inmates released in 1998, the last time the Corrections Department conducted a survey, said spokeswoman Cheryl Bates-Lee. |
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