Legislature(2015 - 2016)ANCH LIO AUDITORIUM
11/16/2015 09:00 AM House FINANCE
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| Audio | Topic |
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| Start | |
| Presentation: Alaska Prison Grown Drivers and Costs | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE
November 16, 2015
9:05 a.m.
9:05:44 AM
[NOTE: Meeting was held in Anchorage, Alaska at the
Legislative Information Office]
CALL TO ORDER
Vice-Chair Saddler called the House Finance Committee
meeting to order at 9:05 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Dan Saddler, Vice-Chair
Representative Les Gara
Representative Lynn Gattis
Representative Cathy Munoz
Representative Lance Pruitt
MEMBERS ABSENT
None
ALSO PRESENT
Terry Schuster, Senior Associate, Pew Charitable Trust,
Public Safety Performance Project; Joshua Wilson,
Spokesman, Alaska Correctional Officers Association;
Suzanne DiPietro, Executive Director, Alaska Judicial
Council.
PRESENT VIA TELECONFERENCE
Representative Steve Thompson, Co-Chair, Representative
Bryce Edgmon, Representative David Guttenberg,
Representative Scott Kawasaki, Representative Tammie
Wilson, Representative Charisse Millet.
SUMMARY
^PRESENTATION: ALASKA PRISON GROWN DRIVERS AND COSTS
9:07:21 AM
TERRY SCHUSTER, SENIOR ASSOCIATE, PEW CHARITABLE TRUST,
PUBLIC SAFETY PERFORMANCE PROJECT, introduced himself. He
explained that the Pew was charged with the task of
analyzing the state's prison systems, and the costs
thereof. He discussed the presentation, "The Pew Charitable
Trusts; Alaska Prison Growth Drivers and Costs" (copy on
file).
Mr. Schuster looked at slide 1, "Prison Population Up 27
percent in Last Decade." He stated that the prison
population in Alaska had grown 27 percent over the decade.
He stressed that it was significant growth over a ten year
period. By comparison, the resident population growth in
Alaska was 10 percent over the same period of time. He
stressed that the prison population was growing roughly
three times as fast as the resident population.
Mr. Schuster highlighted slide 2, "Prison Population is
Half Sentenced Offenders, Half Supervision Violators and
Pretrial Defendants." He stated that the pie graph
represented a snapshot of the prison population on July 1,
2014 by status. He noted that one-half of the prison
population were sentenced offenders. He stated that
approximately one-quarter of the prison population were
pretrial. He concluded that slightly less than one-quarter
of the prison population were supervision violators.
Representative Gattis wondered if the supervision violators
could also be considered pre-trial inmates.
Mr. Schuster responded that those supervision violators are
separate.
Representative Gattis was hoping for additional information
regarding the supervision violators.
9:11:55 AM
Vice-Chair Saddler asked for a brief snap shot of what the
Pew Charitable Trust does, its mission, and performance.
Mr. Schuster explained that the Pew Charitable Trust was a
public charity, involved in many different projects across
the country related to research or technical assistance
related to government performance.
Vice-Chair Saddler asked if Pew was motivated by any
particular philosophy.
Mr. Schuster responded that the assistance provided by Pew
was paid for by the Pew Foundation. The Pew family made
their money with the Sun Oil Company, and the children put
most of the inherited money into a charitable trust for the
public good.
9:14:55 AM
Vice-Chair Saddler looked at slide 2, and wondered how the
prison population status distribution compared to other
states. He asked if Alaska could be considered an outlier.
Mr. Schuster replied that it was difficult to compare
Alaska to other states, because the other states were set
up in counties. The county jails were separate from the
state prison systems. The population in county jails would
not be included in the state prison system numbers.
Mr. Schuster addressed slide 3, "Largest Growth Among
Pretrial Inmates." He restated that there had been
significant prison population growth over ten years. He
shared that there was an attempt to understand the driving
factors related to prison population growth.
Representative Gara remarked that there was an issue of
crimes going from misdemeanors to felonies because of
inflation. He wondered if other states updated the fines
charged to criminal defendants, and the amounts that may
increase the level of crime. He stressed that the
inflation-impacted increase in crime level cost the state
significant money.
Mr. Schuster responded that other states had raised the
threshold in their statutes for when the value of a stolen
item counts as a felony as opposed to a misdemeanor in
order to track inflation. He shared that there were some
jurisdictions that were examining an automatic index to
inflation. The recommendations for Alaska were still being
worked out in the Criminal Justice Commission.
Representative Gara asked if he could get any publications
from other 23 states that could be supplied to the
committee.
Mr. Schuster replied that Pew was independently interested
in the topic, so there was a team of PHD criminologists who
were working on a number of publications including the
examination of the 23 states who had raised their felony
threshold, and the relation of crime versus collection of
restitution. He did not know when the publication would be
made available.
9:20:52 AM
Representative Gara stated that he was disappointed that
the publication was not yet available.
Mr. Schuster stated that Pew was aware that there was not a
measurable connection between crime rates and the felony
theft threshold.
Vice-Chair Saddler asked if the information that Pew had
was broken down into regions in the state.
Mr. Schuster replied that there was raw data available, but
there had not been queried data for the current
presentation.
Mr. Schuster highlighted slide 4, "Pretrial Defendants Make
Up 28 Percent of Alaska's Prison Population." He stated
that the pretrial population would be discussed for the
next few slides.
Mr. Schuster looked at slide 5, "Number of Pretrial
Defendants Up 81 Percent in Last Decade." The line graph
showed the growth in the pretrial population over the last
decade. He remarked that the last five years showed an
increase in pretrial population by 81 percent. He stressed
that there were to contributing factors to that growth: 1)
more people were arrested and brought to jail pretrial; and
2) people were spending longer periods of time detained
pretrial.
Mr. Schuster addressed slide 6, "Pretrial Admissions Down
13 Percent, But Still High Numbers of Nonviolent
Misdemeanor Admissions." The noted that the different
collars in the bar graphs represented the severity of the
offense. The top color was nonviolent misdemeanor offences;
the second portion was violent misdemeanor offences; the
third portion was nonviolent felony offences; and the
bottom portion was violent felony offences. He remarked
that the numbers were reduced from 2005.
9:24:33 AM
Mr. Schuster displayed slide 7, "Average Pretrial Length of
Stay Up." He stated that the lighter blue bars represented
average length of stay in prison in 2005, and the darker
blue bars represented average length of stay in 2014. He
noted that the length of stay had increase across the
board. He stressed that the examination on referred to the
amount of time between the time someone was arrested and
when they were released pretrial. He noted that some people
were detained the entire period of time before they were
convicted; and for others they posted bail to be released
earlier. He remarked that the bars on the far right showed
that the average length of stay for a person arrested for a
nonviolent misdemeanor charge was six days pretrial, and
the current average was nine days. He stressed that the
three day increase may not seem significant, but pointed
out that the multiplication of 3 days by over 11,000 people
was a significant number of days.
Vice-Chair Saddler asked why the increase in length of
prison stays.
Mr. Schuster responded that the question was very
difficult. He suggested that one possibility was that the
bail amounts were being set were remarkably high.
Representative Gattis suggested in looking at the previous
ten years. She wondered why he could not go back to look at
the more previous ten years.
Mr. Schuster responded that any aggregate data was not
available.
Representative Gattis assumed that the data was already in
the system on Courtview.
Mr. Schuster could not remember what the determination was
on Courtview.
9:30:37 AM
Representative Pruitt recalled that Pew was tasked in
examining DOC. He felt that looking at the pretrial
population would not be able to provide the full challenge
as related to the corrections population.
Mr. Schuster relayed that the corrections population were
there as a result of many different decision makers. He
stated that Pew was examining various policy makers.
Representative Pruitt thanked Mr. Schuster for the
clarification. He believed that it was more than just
corrections being looked at.
Mr. Schuster reported that the commission would provide
statutory and budgetary changes. He stated that the
commission had conducted outreach to many stakeholder
groups, including crime victim roundtables. He stressed
that many of the recommendations were related to
administrative changes. He stressed that the commission was
charged in providing statutory and budgetary changes.
Representative Munoz wondered if Pew was able to identify
particular statutory changes that had occurred since 2005,
and their impact on the prison population.
Mr. Schuster replied in the affirmative. He noted that,
like the pretrial population, the growth in the sentenced
population was not related to more people being sentenced.
Rather, the growth was due to many people spending slightly
more time in prison.
9:35:39 AM
Representative Edgmon felt that Alaska had an inordinate
amount of pretrial prisoners. He queried the comparison to
other states of pretrial prisoners.
Mr. Schuster replied that the question was difficult to
answer, because Alaska's prison population housed people in
the state prison. He stressed that other states' pretrial
and one-year sentence or less population would be separated
in county jails.
Representative Edgmon wondered how the commission would be
able to properly analyze without the possibility to compare
to other states.
Mr. Schuster responded that the commission would be making
recommendations based on data that should be tracked from
the current day forward. He stressed that the policy
package put forth by the legislature be actually
implemented. He stressed that the analysis should be based
on the expectation of the policy.
Co-Chair Thompson remarked that, since 2005, there was
mandatory minimum sentencing legislation. He wondered if
that legislation had an effect on length of stay in the
pretrial. He also noted that it was more difficult for
individuals to be released on bail. He queried the effect
on the number of individuals tried, and the number of
individuals in the pretrial population.
Mr. Schuster responded that he had not measured those
queries. He remarked that that he had heard anecdotally
that the presumptive sentences had increased significantly
for sex offenders, so many people were entering into trial
because of the avoidance of plea deals.
9:40:04 AM
Representative Gara wanted to reduce the number of
nonviolent offenders in prison, but was not yet convinced
about the statistic. He noted that the pretrial population
was expensive, unless the substantial majority could be
given "time served" for their eventual sentence. He
wondered if there was really a savings.
Mr. Schuster agreed. He shared that the commission was
going to make changes to pretrial and sentencing changes.
Representative Gara felt that there should be a
conversation with practitioners who have asserted that
there is 24 hour third party custody for very minor crimes.
He remarked that he had seen that occurrence while he
practiced criminal law.
Mr. Schuster replied that the commission had conducted
public meeting outreach. He stressed that the commission
had travelled to remote and rural communities to listen to
stake holder groups. He also stated that the commission had
solicited input and feedback from prosecutors, defense
attorneys, law enforcement, crime victims, researchers,
academics, system practitioners, and families of
incarcerated individuals. He stressed that the information
could not be quantified.
Mr. Schuster displayed slide 8, "Sentenced Offenders Make
Up 50 Percent of Alaska's Prison Population."
Mr. Schuster looked at slide 9, "Number of Sentenced
Inmates UP 14 Percent in Last Decade." He remarked that the
sentenced population had grown over ten years. He stated
that the sentenced population was not growing as fast as
the pretrial population, but there was a higher number of
people.
Representative Gara wondered if the numbers were adjusted
for population of the state.
Mr. Schuster responded that the resident population had
increased by approximately 10 percent over the ten year
period.
9:49:34 AM
Mr. Schuster addressed slide 10, "Despite Declines, 82
Percent of Prison Admission Are Misdemeanants." He
explained that the slide highlighted that fewer people were
sentenced
Vice-Chair Saddler asked if the numbers were raw numbers.
Mr. Schuster replied that the numbers were raw numbers.
Representative Pruitt surmised that the committee was
currently looking at a snap shot of 2005 and 2013. He
wondered if the slide represented a trend.
Mr. Schuster responded in the affirmative. He stressed that
over time the number of admissions had decreased.
Mr. Schuster explained the color blocking on the slide was
based on the severity of the convictions. He explained what
the colors of the bars meant.
Vice-Chair Saddler asked for Mr. Schuster to explain a
violent misdemeanor.
Mr. Schuster replied that a violent misdemeanor was a
misdemeanor assault such as a bar fight or a minor domestic
violence incident.
Mr. Schuster highlighted slide 11, "Felony Length of Stay
Up Across Nonviolent Offense Categories." He explained that
the light blue bars represented the average length of stay
in 2005, and the dark blue bars represented the average
length of stay in 2014. He noted that there was an increase
in average length of stay for people who were sentenced to
a prison term. He noted that the property and drug
offenders were currently staying in prison an average of
one month longer. He stated that alcohol and public order
offenders were staying approximately three months longer
than in 2005. He stressed that the small increase
multiplied across by thousands of people adds up to many
prison beds that the state was not using previously.
Vice-Chair Saddler wondered if a pretrial offender was in a
separate facility from a sentenced offender.
Mr. Schuster was unsure how to answer the question. He
stated that there were pretrial wings of prisons and some
facilities that were pretrial designated. He assumed that
almost every facility in the state had a combination of
both pretrial and sentenced offenders.
9:55:01 AM
JOSHUA WILSON, SPOKESMAN, ALASKA CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS
ASSOCIATION, stated that there were some state facilities
that were strictly sentenced facilities, but most
facilities also had pretrial facilities. He stressed that
the state had a unified system, so both pretrial and
sentenced offenders were in the same system.
Representative Gara stressed that there was a heroin
addiction epidemic in the state. He remarked that many
heroin addicts faced a very difficult time getting admitted
to a heroin treatment facility. He wondered if there was an
analysis of the cost of heroin treatment and jail time.
Mr. Schuster replied that, in Alaska, it cost approximately
142 per day to house someone in prison. He stressed that
treatment facilities would be significantly less expensive.
He furthered that he did not know if an inpatient treatment
facility would be cheaper than prison costs. He shared that
justice reinvestment in the country was focusing on using
the prison beds for the most violent offenders.
Vice-Chair Saddler wondered if the recommendations would be
included in the report.
Mr. Schuster replied that the data would be included in the
commission's report.
Mr. Schuster discussed slide 12, "Felony Length of Stay up
17 Percent for Person Offenders; 86 Percent for Sex
Offenders." The average length of stay for violent
offenders had also increased. He noted that the graph had
examined only individuals who were already released.
Representative Pruitt asked if Pew was addressing how to
deal with felony sex offenders that were released.
Mr. Schuster responded that there were conditions that
applied specifically to sex offenders. He stated that the
Criminal Justice Commission had a longer life span than the
technical assistance provided by Pew. He stated that Pew
provided assistance around justice reinvestment, which was
about more effective outcomes in public safety.
10:01:36 AM
Representative Pruitt wondered if the collateral
consequences were considered cost drivers, or whether there
was a need to not focus on the collateral consequences.
Mr. Schuster responded that there were many factors that
were easy to put into projections. He stressed that Pew did
not feel comfortable dealing with collateral consequences
like programs aimed at reducing recidivism. He stressed
that Pew could not run those numbers through a projection
mode.
Representative Gara remarked that sex offences ranged from
unspeakable acts to lower level crimes. He stated that the
lowest level of a sex offence was someone who touched
someone through their clothing now had a four year minimum
prison sentence, and he felt that it was "insane" in most
cases. He felt that the sentence should be based on the
facts in the case. He wondered if there was an examination
of the categories of sex offences, and the impact on the
prison populations.
Mr. Schuster replied in the affirmative. He stated that
most people currently in prison from a sex offence were
there for a very serious sex offence.
10:05:40 AM
Vice-Chair Saddler asked about the age of the prison
population growth.
Mr. Schuster responded that the fastest growing segment of
the prison population was people 51-years-old and older,
but was not the largest prison population. He stated that
the cost benefit begins to flip when the population begins
aging. He stressed that the older prisoners were the most
expensive prisoners to house in terms of medical care.
Vice-Chair Saddler asked why the largest prison population
was over 51.
Mr. Schuster replied that there were two types of people
that added to prison growth: 1) individuals who enter the
prison system and stay for a short time; and 2) those who
stay in prison for a long time. He stressed that more
people who were sentenced to long stays in prison increased
the population of older prisoners, because they were not
going to be released. He shared that some states had been
examining a geriatric parole option.
Representative Guttenberg asked about behavior
predictability. He was concerned with changes crimes
surrounding the legalization of marijuana and whether Pew
was tracking the effect in Colorado or other states that
have legalized the drug.
Mr. Schuster responded that there would be recommendations
to determine risk management.
10:13:20 AM
Mr. Schuster looked at slide 13, "Supervision Violators
make Up 22 Percent of Alaska's Prison Population." He
shared that someone who commits a new crime would show up
in the pretrial category.
Mr. Schuster displayed slide 14, "Number of Supervision
Violators Up 15 Percent in Last Decade." He explained that
the vertical bars covered 2205 violators and those in
2014/.
Vice-Chair Saddler asked how Alaska's numbers compared to
those of other states.
Mr. Schuster responded that supervision violations was an
area that was a focus for reform throughout the nation.
10:18:57 AM
Representative Gara wondered if there was a correlation
between the availability of substance abuse treatment at
the population of supervision violators.
Mr. Schuster mentioned the program "24/7". The program did
drug testing twice a day. He stated that for some of the
population having to be accountable twice a day helped to
reduce the chance of violating supervision.
Vice-Chair Saddler asked if alcohol and drug abuse
treatment seem to be effective.
Mr. Schuster responded that substance abuse was predictive
of future criminal behavior, but it was not the most
predictive of future criminal behavior. He stressed that
there were other factors like antisocial thinking patterns
that were much more predictive.
10:23:20 AM
Vice-Chair Saddler asked Mr. Schuster to further explain.
Mr. Schuster responded that there were risk factors that
made someone likely to commit crime in the future. He
stated that some factors could never be changed. He shared
that the age at first arrest was very predictive of future
criminal behavior; current criminal history; current age;
and the historic ages that make someone more likely to
engage in criminal behavior that could not be changed by
programming. He stated that antisocial thinking patterns;
substance abuse; employment; and family relationships could
be changed by programming.
Mr. Schuster addressed slide 15, "Nearly Half of
Revocations Staying More Than One Month; 29 Percent More
Than Three Months." He explained that the next few slides
would be related to recidivism and costs.
Mr. Schuster discussed slide 16, "Almost Two-Thirds of
Offenders Released Return to Prison Within Three Years." He
stated that the left hand bar represented the portion of
offenders who were released from prison in FY 02 who
returned to prison within three years. He announced 71
percent of people released from prison returned to prison
on or before 2005. He explained that 63 percent of people
released in FY 11 returned to prison by 2014. The good news
was that recidivism had gone down in Alaska. He stated that
there were many programs that were effective at reducing
recidivism.
Representative Pruitt asked if the numbers reflected people
who had committed another crimes or parole violators.
Mr. Schuster responded that the numbers included any return
to prison including parole violations and those arrested
but not convicted.
Mr. Schuster stressed that a recidivism rate of 63 percent
was still considered a high number. He stressed that,
despite the growth in the prison population, there were not
necessarily great results in terms of the return on
investment in recidivism.
Vice-Chair Saddler queried Alaska compared to other states.
Mr. Schuster relayed that it was difficult to determine
because Alaska was unique. He stressed that a return to
prison in Alaska would be different than a return to prison
in another state. He stated that the return included things
that the other states would weed out. The other states may
not include a return to jail, because Alaska did not have
jails they only had prisons.
Vice-Chair Saddler suggested that the numbers seemed
obtainable.
Mr. Schuster replied that there may not be a way to compare
Alaska to the other states.
Mr. Schuster looked at slide 17, "Spending on Corrections
Up 60 Percent Over Past 2 Decades." The slide did not show
adjustments for inflation, but rather only the actual
numbers from 1995 to 2014 of the operating budget for DOC.
He explained that there was an increase of 60 percent, when
adjusted for inflation. He stressed that the graph did not
include capital expenses.
Vice-Chair Saddler clarified that there was a 60 percent
increase, with the adjustment for inflation.
Mr. Schuster agreed.
Vice-Chair Saddler assumed that it was a raw number.
Mr. Schuster agreed that it was only a dollar increase...
10:29:48 AM
Representative Gattis wondered whether the $142 per inmate
included the operating costs, or whether it included the
proration of capital.
Mr. Schuster answered that the $142 a day was a number
provided by DOC. He assumed it was operating costs.
Mr. Schuster highlighted slide 18, "Absent Further Reform,
Prison Population Projected to Grow 27 Percent, Costing At
Least $169 Million." He explained that the slide looked
back ten years and forward ten years. He pointed that the
prison population grew. He stressed that another 1400 beds
would be occupied in the following 10 years.
Vice-Chair Saddler queried the impact of the change in
marijuana offenses.
Mr. Schuster stated that the projected increase was based
on the previous growth rate and that no policy changes were
considered.
Representative Gara wondered if the largest increase in
prison cost was attributed to the increase in sentence
stay.
Mr. Schuster replied in the affirmative. He explained that
the increase in the prison population was largely driven by
longer lengths of stay for the sentence and pretrial
population.
Vice-Chair Saddler asked if there was any correlation
between the number of crimes committed in the state and the
number of people incarcerated. He wondered if one could
assume that there would be fewer crimes committed in the
general population, if more people were incarcerated.
Mr. Schuster stated that criminologists were very
interested in that question. He stated that largest crime
decline in the country was in the mid-90s. There was a
question of whether the crime decline was caused by the
prison expansion, and they determined that prison expansion
had a role in the crime decline in the 1990s. He stated
that there were varied estimates about the portion of
decline. He stated that approximately 10 to 30 percent of
the crime decline was related to more imprisonment. He
stressed that it was difficult to correlate the exact cause
of the increase in incarceration. He also asserted that, at
the time, "baby boomers" were aging out of crime. He also
stated that there had been a waning in the crack epidemic,
which decreased the number of violent crimes. He also
announced that there were changes in policing and personal
security practices. He stated that, since the 1990s, the
value of putting a person in prison was significantly less
than the 1990s.
Vice-Chair Saddler observed that there was nuance of cause
and effect.
Mr. Schuster replied in the affirmative as it related to
crime. He stated that, with regard to recidivism, there was
significant research about what works to reduce recidivism.
10:39:12 AM
Representative Pruitt wanted to hear more about the effects
of electronic monitoring and its impact. He wondered if it
was affecting costs to the state.
Mr. Schuster responded that Alaska had a couple of
different types of electronic monitoring. He explained the
monitoring process. There was a private electronic
monitoring company as well that would equate to a third-
party custodian. In terms of cost, electronic monitoring
was much more affordable than a hard prison bed.
Representative Pruitt wondered if there was data to examine
other state's electronic monitoring practices.
Mr. Schuster responded that there were people out there
saying that electronic monitoring worked. However, it was
difficult to determine conclusive research, because there
may not be enough evidence, because most of the evidence
was anecdotal.
Representative Pruitt wondered if there were any states
that felt electronic monitoring did not work at all.
Mr. Schuster replied that he did not have a definitive
answer. He asserted that there were arguments for and
against electronic monitoring.
Representative Pruitt asked if Mr. Schuster when the type
of analysis would be available.
Mr. Schuster responded that it would probably be available
in three to five years.
Representative Pruitt asked why that timeline.
Mr. Schuster responded that the research needed that much
time for data to be collected and analyzed.
10:46:16 AM
Representative Wilson wanted to clarify that the state
would have to wait three to five years to see if the
electronic monitoring was effective.
Mr. Schuster responded that the legislature could require
that certain outcomes be tracked.
Representative Wilson asked about the 50 percent that were
currently under electronic monitoring data.
Mr. Schuster did not know the answer to Representative
Wilson's question.
Representative Wilson asked if the specific recommendations
would be included in the report.
Mr. Schuster confirmed that policy recommendations would be
provided in the report. He added that dollar amounts would
be provided in the report as well.
Representative Wilson asked if the committee could request
that the Department of Corrections could provide their
numbers in the electronic monitoring program.
Vice-Chair Saddler agreed to provide that information.
10:50:31 AM
Representative Gara relayed he had received an anonymous
complaint about the difficulty of collecting data.
Mr. Schuster addressed slide 19, "Next Steps":
· Alaska Criminal Justice Commission policy
development meetings
· Sept. 9-10
· Oct. 14-15
· Nov. 18-19
· Report and recommendations from the Commission
· Dec. 10
Vice-Chair Saddler commented that the committee would be
interested in the report and recommendations.
Mr. Schuster relayed that members of Pew would be willing
to answer questions during the legislative session.
Vice-Chair Saddler noted that the contact information was
in the presentation, and wondered if the public would
contact Mr. Schuster with questions.
Mr. Schuster stated that questions could be directed
through him. He mentioned other individuals as well.
10:53:43 AM
Representative Munoz stated that she had recently been
contacted by a local family. The individual had a mental
illness. She wondered if the commission had had an
opportunity to review recidivism and mental health issues.
Mr. Schuster responded that the commission had spent. One
of the commission members was the head of the Alaska Mental
Health Trust Authority. There would be some recommendations
that mental health treatment would be recommended.
Representative Munoz indicated that her office had studied
the actions of other states, and found a law in Washington
where a family could commission the court for involuntary
commitment for mental health treatment. She wondered if the
commission had examined a similar issue.
Mr. Schuster replied that he did not believe that the
commission had looked into that topic. She shared that the
commission was aware of the topic, and may be considered
after the legislative session.
Representative Munoz shared that she would follow up with
the commission.
10:57:17 AM
Representative Edgmon commended Mr. Schuster for the
presentation. He asked if any research had been conducted -
anything having to do with Alaska tribes.
Mr. Schuster stated that the recommendations would be
coming out soon and he was unclear if something specific to
Alaska tribes. He elaborated that trips to some Ms. Fowler
rural Alaska occurred.
Representative Edgmon mentioned the first slide. He queried
any analysis of the Alaska tribes as related to the prison
system.
Mr. Schuster stated that there was a disproportioned number
of Alaska Natives confined in the Alaska prison system. He
shared that Alaska Natives represented approximately 15
percent of the resident population in the state, and
represented approximately 36 percent of the prison
population. He furthered that they represented
approximately 42 percent of the probation and parole
violator population.
Representative Edgmon commented that he wanted the
information on record. He appreciated the response.
Representative Gara stressed that there must be a reduction
to the number of people who would ever commit a crime. He
wondered if there were strategies to reduce the number of
people who commit crimes. He shared that there were studies
that revealed that low income people who had access to
quality pre-K education committed crimes in smaller
numbers.
Mr. Schuster replied that Pew was more likely to examine
the impact over the next ten years, rather than an
examination of impact up to 30 years. He stated that he was
not familiar with the research related to pre-K. He
announced that Alaska already set aside money for
prevention.
Representative Gara remarked that there was a statewide
decrease in funding, so he wondered if increased policing
would reduce crime.
Mr. Schuster replied that he did not know that research. He
stated that there had been remarkable changes in police
practices over thirty years that had impacted crime. He
shared that crime had steadily decreased nationwide since
the 1990s.
11:06:29 AM
Vice-Chair Saddler suggested that Pew's focus was not on
crime prevention, rather on recidivism.
Mr. Schuster relayed that Pew's focus had been on the data
related to the growth in the prison population.
Vice-Chair Saddler stressed that Pew was attempting to
perform a specific job for a specific tool.
Representative Gattis asked if the report would address the
effective and ineffective Alaska programs.
Mr. Schuster replied that Pew was conducting two separate
projects. He stated that there was one project titled
"Justice Reinvestment" and the other was titled "Results
First." He shared that both projects focused on criminal
justice. He explained that Results First was intended to
help the state create a budget tool that identified the
cost benefit of all the programs that exist in the state.
Representative Gattis asked if the program would address
her question. Mr. Schuster replied in the affirmative.
Representative Gattis mentioned Youth Court. She wondered
if the program would be examined by the commission.
Mr. Schuster replied that the commission had not yet come
to a recommendation consensus. He shared that there were
many specialty court programs in the country and the state.
The specialty court programs had proven effective. He
stated that the programs did not always have a large
capacity, so they could not handle many people. As a
result, the program may be at a high cost, even with a high
benefit.
Representative Gattis wondered if the committee would
receive the data.
Mr. Schuster responded there was a separate project that
may address that question.
Representative Gattis asked if there was anyone in the
audience that could answer her question.
SUZANNE DIPIETRO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ALASKA JUDICIAL
COUNCIL, explained that she was working with the university
on the Results First project. She explained that the first
phase of the project was drafting a list of all programs in
the state that were designed to reduce recidivism and
gather information on the cost of the programs.
11:11:09 AM
Representative Gattis surmised that the cost benefit
analysis would not be available until after another nine
months, and the other project would be available in
December 2016. She felt that the committee would be asked
to make a decision without all of the information.
Mr. Schuster responded that there were two separate
initiatives: 1) provide the committee with the tools to
make budgeting decisions; and 2) a process to look at the
growth in the prison populations.
Vice-Chair Saddler asked Ms. DiPietro to describe who was
in charge of the Results First program.
Ms. DiPietro responded that the Results First program was a
project through the Pew Charitable Trust and the MacArthur
Foundation. The program was currently housed at the
University of Alaska Justice Center. She stated that it was
a newly created organization, and deferred to others who
may know the name. She shared that there was a multi-agency
steering committee on the project.
Vice-Chair Saddler surmised that there were many different
programs and efforts.
Representative Guttenberg wanted to talk more about keeping
people out of the system. He mentioned that the average
reading ability in prison was third grade. He asked about
comprehensive work done in increasing education levels and
whether that helped recidivism.
Mr. Schuster stated that there was education. He stated
that education level was not a measure of reducing future
crimes.
Vice-Chair Saddler asked if there was any research done
regarding recidivism rates as related to a low unemployment
rate economy.
Mr. Schuster did not know the answer to the question.
Vice-Chair Saddler asked if there were further questions.
ADJOURNMENT
11:18:14 AM
The meeting was adjourned at 11:18 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| AK Prison Growth Drivers and Costs, for House Finance Committee hearing, 2015_11_16.pdf |
HFIN 11/16/2015 9:00:00 AM |