When it comes to halting ex-inmates' unwelcome return to Arkansas' prisons -- unwanted by them, their families and by the taxpayers of the state -- state lawmakers are beginning to understand a major resource toward that end has been overlooked or undervalued.
What could it be? It's the inmates themselves.
What’s the point?
The governor’s plan to reform the prison, probation and parole systems includes welcome provisions that could make drug and other specialty courts more effective.
Many policy-makers have realized the state cannot afford, and taxpayers are in no mood for, additional major spending to build new prison cells in support of a "lock 'em up and throw away the key" approach to criminal justice. The folks at the Arkansas Department of Correction last year announced plans for a new prison at a cost of $100 million, but new Gov. Asa Hutchinson and the two chambers of the Arkansas General Assembly aren't showing signs they want to just build more prison space. Dealing with Arkansas prison space crunch must involve more nuanced approaches that achieve behavior modification rather than a simple warehousing of humans. Yes, they're lawbreakers, and punishment will always be part of the mix, but our state is best served by saving prison space for violent offenders; for others, Arkansas' interests are in making sure they have a good chance of not breaking the law again.
These are among the reasons we're thrilled to see support within Hutchinson's administration for drug and other "specialty" courts that devote resources to curing addictions or other root contributors to illegal activities.
Currently, there are 80 specialty court programs in the state, among them 44 drug courts, 13 juvenile drug courts, nine DWI courts, three veterans courts and two mental health courts, according to the state's drug court coordinator, Kari Powers. These kinds of courts have emerged as the judicial system recognized prison sentences aren't cures for everything, and they certainly aren't solutions that provide results beyond the end of the prison stay.
But these programs operate largely independently of one another and to different standards. Within Gov. Hutchinson's prison and probation reform plan announced recently are serious reforms designed to provide some -- not likely enough, but some -- permanent funding for specialty courts and mechanisms designed to ensure the money spent returns a benefit not just to the criminal, but to the state as a whole.
At the center of all this is Senate Bill 472, the Criminal Justice Reform Act, which encapsulates Gov. Hutchinson's reforms. It tackles all sorts of changes for prisons, parole and probation practices. Among those are new police powers for warrantless searches of parolees -- something parole and probation officers can do now but regular law enforcement officers cannot -- and a push to enroll soon-to-be-released and qualified prisoners in Medicaid so that health issues, such as substance addictions or mental illness, can be addressed in their post-prison lives.
But most promising among the Hutchinson-backed changes is an embrace of specialty courts through which the judicial system can tackle the real issues affecting some people's criminal behaviors. In many cases, those involve drug addictions, mental illness, or a combination of the two. Treatment and supervision, rather than simple incarceration, is key to getting many defendants on track toward a better life, and certainly one in which taxpayers aren't paying for high-dollar room and board.
Central to the specialty court provisions is imposition of a new fee -- how much is to be determined -- that defendants would pay as they go through the specialized counseling and treatments related to their court-supervised program. The money would establish a new pool of revenue for drug courts, for example, but would set high expectations for best practices proven to have an impact. One expectation is that drug courts would target its rehabilitation efforts on offenders considered medium to high risk to re-offend.
What's the point of a program, after all, if it's not successful at keeping people from committing new crimes and returning to the prison system?
The governor's proposal will also mandate the monthly collection of data on people sent through these specialty court programs. Without data, how can the state determine whether these programs are succeeding in keeping people out of prisons? That is a prudent, put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is move in a state with extremely limited resources. Programs that prove themselves effective will be the ones getting the money.
There is hope, too, that state funding will help implement a pilot project in Washington County to create a 24-hour, regional crisis intervention center where officers could take people with suspected mental health issues for evaluation. That's a far healthier solution -- for them and the community -- than taking them to a jail unequipped to handle mental illness. We're convinced -- and it's almost universally recognized now -- that a significant portion of the people in local jails and prison could be lifted from their troubles if only their mental illness could be addressed. Jail is not the place for that to happen.
This is all progress in a state that needs it within its criminal justice system.
With Hutchinson's success rate so far in the ongoing session of the Arkansas General Assembly, let's hope a renewed level of attention on drug and other specialty courts produces benefits for our state. The people of Arkansas will be best served when a prison cell is one of the last resorts. By treating the causes of some criminal activities, the prisons can be reserved for the violent offenders who need to be separated for society.
Hutchinson and supporters of accountable specialty courts are on the right track.
Commentary on 03/01/2015