Legislature(2017 - 2018)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
02/01/2017 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Implementation Overviews of Senate Bill 91 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
February 1, 2017
1:32 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator John Coghill, Chair
Senator Mia Costello
Senator Kevin Meyer
Senator Pete Kelly
Senator Bill Wielechowski
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
IMPLEMENTATION OVERVIEWS OF SENATE BILL 91
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
KRIS SELL, Commissioner
Alaska Criminal Justice Commission and
Lt. Juneau Police Department
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Discussed implementation issues related to
Senate Bill 91.
DEAN WILLIAMS, Commissioner
Department of Corrections (DOC)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the discussion of the
implementation of Senate Bill 91.
CARRIE BELDEN, Director
Division of Probation and Parole (DPP)
Department of Corrections (DOC)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Discussed the steps the Division of
Probation and Parole has undertaken to implement Senate Bill 91.
GERI MILLER-FOX, Director
Division of Pretrial Services
Department of Corrections (DOC)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Discussed what the Division of Pretrial
Services has done to implement Senate Bill 91.
JAHNA LINDEMUTH, Attorney General
Department of Law (DOL)
POSITION STATEMENT: Discussed implementation and training the
Department of Law has undertaken to implement Senate Bill 91.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:32:36 PM
CHAIR JOHN COGHILL called the Senate Judiciary Standing
Committee meeting to order at 1:32 p.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Costello, Kelly, Meyer, Wielechowski and
Chair Coghill.
^Implementation Overviews of Senate Bill 91
Implementation Overviews of Senate Bill 91
1:32:56 PM
CHAIR COGHILL announced the business before the committee would
be to hear overviews on the implementation of Senate Bill 91.
1:34:53 PM
LT. KRIS SELL, Commissioner, Alaska Criminal Justice Commission
("Commission"), said she works as a lieutenant for the Juneau
Police Department. She was asked to serve on the Commission in
the fall of 2014, when the state first started looking at
reforming criminal justice. She described the journey as
stressful. "We made some changes, some things were really hard,
some things did not go as envisioned, and now there's even talk
of rolling back." She relayed that she found this stress pattern
very familiar and finally realized that it was like the many
domestic violence cases she has worked during her career as a
police officer. The parallel is that change is difficult, enough
so that some people might think about rolling the law back or
convincing themselves that the domestic violence situation
really wasn't that bad.
LT. SELL said that as she thinks about the process right now
with respect to Senate Bill 91, she correlates it with sitting
in the shelter. "People are angry, it's not where we're
comfortable, and things are just not going well." The war within
ourselves is whether to go back or go forward. Human nature is
to go back, but she is asking everyone to be smart about it,
because some things can be made better. She continued:
There were some implementation things that did not
work out as we anticipated. We've relied on structures
that were not in place yet, and we can't just gut it
out until they are. We need to change some things
between now and then. And there were interpretations
of the law that we didn't necessarily foresee
happening, like that someone couldn't be held in jail
to even see a judge if there was no potential jail
time at stake. So the arrests in the field weren't
happening.
LT. SELL asked legislators, just as she has asked DV victims, to
keep looking at the future that could happen. Exactly what that
will look like isn't clear, but there is hope. "If we can keep
the hope robust, then we won't give in to the fear and to the
stress that is happening right now. Because if we give in, we
will have fed that [fear] and we will be right back where we
were, if not worse off." People keep cycling through jail and
their behavior isn't changing.
1:43:22 PM
LT. SELL related that she attended an Alaska Peace Officers'
Association meeting in Anchorage last weekend and the business
manager was incredulous that she was pleased to have been part
of this criminal justice reform. Her response was, "Well it
hasn't been easy, but I think we need to keep in mind: if not
us, then who, and if not now, then when?" She said she is
committed to stay in the Commission and work for a better
future. "We don't have to go back to the bad status quo. Let's
keep moving forward to a better future even if we don't know
exactly what that's going to look like in a year."
1:44:41 PM
CHAIR COGHILL said the testimony has been loud and clear that
some of the tools just didn't fit. In recognition of this, the
Commission presented 14 recommendations, 3 of which have tools
to help stay the course.
LT. SELL said developing those 14 recommendations was difficult
because in some instances the Commission had to step outside
what the science in corrections has said. "We had to make some
assessments from what we saw." For example, repetitive small
thefts not resulting in jail time. The idea was to keep from
spending $150 per day to incarcerate somebody for stealing
mouthwash. However, it became clear that perhaps this created a
path where a drug addict stood less risk of going to jail by
doing 10 shopliftings instead of one burglary. Also, there are
interpretations that field arrests aren't being made on class C
felonies. "That just can't happen. We've got to make sure that
they answer for that charge in a relatively quick fashion." The
Commission has addressed these.
She said she considers the bail schedule the equivalent of a
domestic violence victim's dog being held at the pound. It is an
added stressor that may not be directly associated with the
situation. She pointed to the bail schedule that suggested OR
release for things like violent assault in the fourth degree,
and the officer had to call to get an exception. "Different
departments are claiming to have had different experiences with
magistrates, including being told they can't adjust the bail
schedule." She opined that the assumption needs to be that some
bail is required in those situations. She noted that the bail
schedule is under the purview of the presiding judges, but Judge
Trevor Stevens has indicated the judges are open to discussion.
LT. SELL said the fact that prosecuting budgets are being cut
and more cases are being dismissed for financial reasons adds
another layer of difficulty. Senate Bill 91 is heavily relied on
to identify incorrigible criminals through repetitive
convictions, but if convictions are not being funded, career
criminals are not going to be identified.
1:49:30 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI observed that Senate Bill 91 deals
predominantly with nonviolent offenses.
LT. SELL replied that was the intent.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI reviewed four articles from the Alaska
Dispatch News in the last 19 hours. They included a death and
wounding in an Anchorage gun battle; a wounding in a Spenard
area shooting; murder of a 20-year-old in Chenega Bay during an
alcohol-fueled fight; and a head stabbing in Juneau. He said he
assumes these are not related to Senate Bill 91.
LT. SELL replied there was actually an attempt to impose more
severe penalties for murder and other high crimes. The concern
was that people who commit certain crimes are not safe to have
in society under any rehabilitation or redemption.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said that clarification is important, but
there is an explosion of violent crime in Anchorage and
throughout Alaska. He asked what advice she has to stem that
explosion.
LT. SELL said it's complicated but people who are addicted to
drugs need treatment and people who have a mental health issue
also need treatment. If they are simply given a timeout in jail,
they will get out at some point and commit more crimes. It's the
violent, incorrigible criminals that need to stay in jail. She
emphasized the need to attack drug use from both the consumer
and supply side and the need for tools that work.
CHAIR COGHILL said Senate Bill 91 attempted to change the
behavior of the consumer as a way to address the crime rate.
1:57:20 PM
LT. SELL replied the shortage of resources is also a great
impediment. She shared a story about a known drug addict and
burglar who said he wanted to stop using heroin, so he could
attend his daughter's functions and get a job. She did not have
resources available on Friday night, and he continued to use
over the weekend and did not show up for his NCADD appointment
on Monday.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said there is an obvious need for more
resources, but he wonders what other things can be done.
LT. SELL said it's necessary to stop illegal drug use, but that
will be more difficult than trying to eradicate smallpox.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI pointed out that marijuana is legal now.
LT. SELL said it's particularly difficult to tell an addict who
wants to stop that help is not available. "It's basically
telling them to continue on their violent and criminal ways."
Drugs today are too powerful to bootstrap your way out.
Treatment and prevention address this, but the police can't
enforce a standard that does not exist in the community.
CHAIR COGHILL thanked Lt. Sell for highlighting the need for
solutions. Senate Bill 91 brought to light that there are
solutions, but they won't be easy.
He welcomed Dean Williams, Commissioner of the Department of
Corrections, and Carrie Belden and expressed interest in hearing
what the department has been able to do, what is working, what
is anticipated to work, and the implementation issues they have
identified.
2:03:27 PM
DEAN WILLIAMS, Commissioner, Department of Corrections (DOC),
recapped that Senate Bill 91 has three parts. Last summer some
statutory changes related to sentencing were implemented. In
January 2017 changes dealing with probation were enacted.
Director Belden will discuss those. The final changes will be to
the pretrial services and those will take place in January 2018.
Director Fox will give this part of the presentation.
2:05:16 PM
CARRIE BELDEN, Director, Division of Probation and Parole (DPP),
Department of Corrections (DOC), stated that the Division of
Probation and Parole did a substantial amount of workto ensure
compliance with the Alaska Criminal Justice Commission
("Commission")recommendations associated with relevant
provisions of Senate Bill 91. They basically changed their
processes and procedures in less than six months. She
congratulated her staff for "being exceptional state employees."
CHAIR COGHILL stated his agreement.
MS. BELDEN explained that all probation officer IIIs and any
probation officers that wanted to be part of the change worked
together to establish four workgroups to create and update
division policies. The groups were guided by DPP management and
regional chiefs. They relied heavily on technical assistance
provided by the Criminal Justice Institute and criminal justice
agency stakeholders. This change was too large to do in a
vacuum. The workgroups met for several hours each week as well
as outside of that to answer questions and talk with colleagues
to develop something that would be effective and have buy-in
from the staff.
A mandatory statewide, in person training for all POs was
conducted in the fall of 2016. This was to introduce the
concepts of Senate Bill 91, the best practices, and the policy
framework. In November and December 2016, the DPP team began
conducting weekly teleconferences called "The Learning
Community." These will continue so staff can ask about any
implementation questions, concepts or anomalies so everyone can
be informed. Draft policies were sent out, including "Learning
Community" feedback, and then designed a mandatory Web-ex
training based off staff questions and concerns.The process
encouraged staff involvement in the new policies and procedures
being implemented. The final products were released in December
for January implementation.
2:12:34 PM
MS. BELDEN presented DPP's approach to comply with [the 2016]
Recommendation 12 from the Alaska Criminal Justice Commission:
Implement Graduated Sanctions and Incentives. DPP developedthe
Graduated Responses Grid and requires probation Officers (POs)
to investigate and respond to allegations of positive and
negative behaviors. Responding to negative behavior can range
from informal PO use of grid to a formal violation filed with
the court or Parole Board. Probation Officershave been trained
to respond to negative behaviors with an intervention, a
sanction, or a combination of both. Examples of incentives are
verbal praise, letters of recognition, reduced supervision, and
expanded travel permits. There is also a list of interventions
in the grid. They are designed to move the probation or parolee
toward positive behavior. This can be changing the case plan,
referral to treatment, or referral to a job center. The
sanctions can be verbal or written warnings, restrictions of
travel permits, curfews, increased reporting, and filing with
probation and parole officials. It is a robust grid and staff
did a good job of being fair and just, she said.
2:16:36 PM
MS. BELDEN presented DPP's approach to comply with [the 2016]
Recommendation 13 from the Alaska Criminal Justice Commission:
Reduce pre-adjudication length of stay and cap overall
incarceration for technical violations. The first revocation is
up to 3 days; the second revocation is up to 5 days; the third
revocation is up to 10 days; the fourth and subsequent
revocation is up to the remainder of the sentence; and
absconding from supervision is up to 30 days.
She said this proved to be difficult because it meant the
hearings had to happen promptly. The sanctions appropriately
follow the bill, but some bugs still need to be worked out.
SENATOR COSTELLO clarified for the listening public that these
are the Alaska Criminal Justice Commission [2016]
recommendations that were incorporated in to Senate Bill 91.
2:18:03 PM
MS. BELDEN presented DPP's approach to comply with [the 2016]
Recommendation 14 from the Alaska Criminal Justice Commission:
Earned Compliance Credits. Offenders who comply with their
supervision for one month will earn 30 days off their term of
supervision. She said they tried to stay very true to the bill
and she believes the product is good.
MS. BELDEN presented DPP's approach to comply with [the 2016]
Recommendation 15 from the Alaska Criminal Justice Commission:
Early Termination and Discharge of Supervision. People who meet
the statutory requirements will automatically go forward to the
parole board for early termination. She described this as a good
carrot.
MS. BELDEN presented DPP's approach to comply with [the 2016]
Recommendation 16 from the Alaska Criminal Justice Commission:
Extend good time eligibility to offenders on Electronic
Monitoring (EM). She said that staffconducted emergency reviews
of time accounting records and issued "good time" to offenders
on EM to comply with this mandate. This had to be done
immediately because this requirement adjusted release dates.
2:20:05 PM
MS. BELDEN said the computer programming to assist in the
implementation of Senate Bill 91 provisions was extensive.A
workgroup consisting of management, POs, and programmers created
or significantly upgraded offender management modules for
incentives and sanctions; earned compliance credits, community
work service, and fines and restitution. The programming work is
ongoing and progressing. Going forward, more data will be
captured so things will be a little more evidence-based. She
expressed profound gratitude for the implementation funding.
The next steps will be to continue the weekly "Learning
Community" teleconferences for staff; to continue to update
policies; to continue to hold stakeholder meetings; and to
validate the risk assessment tool and the Level of Service
Inventory.
CHAIR COGHILL thanked Ms. Belden and asked her to extend
gratitude to her staff.
2:24:35 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked for the department's position on the
recommendations that the Commission made.
CHAIR COGHILL said that is a discussion for another day. Today
the focus is on implementation. He welcomed Geri Miller Fox.
2:25:28 PM
GERI MILLER-FOX, Director, Division of Pretrial Services,
Department of Corrections (DOC), displayed a graph of Alaska's
incarcerated population as of July 1, 2014. It shows that the
pretrial population accounts for 81 percent of the growth in the
incarcerated population since July 1, 2005. "It is clearly out
of proportion to what else is happening in the system."
She highlighted some of the history of recommendations for
pretrial services in the state. In 1973, an Alaska Judicial
Council report on repeat bail recidivists recommended
establishing a pretrial agency. In 2003, the Alaska Criminal
Justice Council recommended establishing pretrial processes,
supervision, and diversion. In 2009, an Alaska Law Review
publication by author Elizabeth Johnston recommended Alaska
develop an independent pretrial services agency. In 2015, an
Alaska Judicial Council workgroup proposed sentencing
alternatives and recommended pretrial diversion and deferred
disposition. She emphasized, "This state has been asking for
pretrial services for more than 40 years and Senate Bill 91 has
brought this to our state."
MS. MILLER-FOX reviewed some of the things that have been
highlighted as problematic for pretrial in Alaska. These
include: a lack of available information for judiciary; a lack
of information about offender risk; a lack of oversight for
those who post bail and need supervision; and a lack of options
for release supervision and diversion.
She relayed that by January 2018 she will be overseeing the
implementation of pretrial services for Alaska. Offenders will
be assessed within 24 hours of booking. Those reports and
recommendations will go to the court so information about the
risk of the offender is available at the initial bail hearing.
Low risk offenders will receive monitoring while moderate and
high-risk offenders may be eligible for supervision if released.
MS. MILLER-FOX displayed a member list of the pretrial
development team. Some are required by Senate Bill 91 while
others are stepping up to the plate. She highlighted courts and
judiciary, law enforcement, defendant representatives, victim
rights, treatment services, researchers, prosecutors, and
communities. Currently, there are 74 participants on the
implementation team. There is a lot of interest and people want
to be part of it. She thanked the stakeholders and stakeholder
participants.
2:30:42 PM
She reviewed some of the reasons this is valuable in Alaska.
First, Article 1 of the Alaska State Constitution speaks
directly to defendants being eligible for bail. This population
is presumed innocent, has the right to bail, the right to non-
excessive bond, and to equal protection under the law. The state
constitution also speaks to victim rights and that stakeholder
group is also at the table.
MS. MILLER-FOX related that the purpose of bail generally is to
accomplish three things: 1) to provide a process of releasing
people from custody; 2) to reasonable ensure they will show up
for a future court appearance; and 3) to minimize the likelihood
that they will commit a new criminal act between the time they
are arrested and the case is disposed.
She displayed a list of the forms of release. These include: Own
Recognizance (OR) release, Unsecured Bond (UB) release, Secured
Bond (SB), and Conditional Release/Pretrial Services Supervision
and /or Monitoring (CR) release.
MS. MILLER-FOX highlighted that one of the Alaska Criminal
Justice Commission findings in the 2015 Justice Reinvestment
Report was that courts generally should consider two factors in
deciding whether to release a defendant pretrial: the likelihood
that the defendant will miss a court hearing and the likelihood
the defendant will engage in new criminal activity if released.
She said that research has shown that risk assessment tools can
accurately predict these risks by identifying and weighing
factors that are associated with each type of pretrial failure.
She noted that this is not only a recommendation of the
Commission, but a requirement under Senate Bill 91. The
Department of Corrections will implement a new risk assessment
for the pretrial population and it will measure those two
components.
She clarified that the pretrial risk assessment tool is
different than the risk assessment tool for people under
probation and parole. "It is a different purpose, it's a
different function, but it's well researched for this
population." Some examples of pretrial tools currently in use
come from the Virginia Pretrial Risk Assessment (CPRA), the Ohio
Risk Assessment System-Pretrial (ORAS-PAT), Correctional
Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions
(COMPAS)-Pretrial, and the Public Safety Assessment-Court (PSA-
Court) used by Kentucky, North Carolina, and Santa Cruz,
California.
MS. MILLER-FOX reported that the Department of Correction
pretrial assessment parameters will require three primary
objectives: current data sources will be utilized, the
assessment design will be based on existing Alaska data, and
there will be ongoing analysis and validation. She highlighted
that research shows that interviews do not make a large
difference in the outcomes of the assessments. Conducting no
defendant interviews will save money and still result in equal
or better results.
2:34:46 PM
She displayed a grid of pretrial recommendation guidelines for
low, moderate, and high-risk defendants who allegedly committed
misdemeanor, class C felony, DUI/Refusal FTA/VCOR, and "Other"
crimes. She clarified that offenses that fall under "Other" are
unclassified offenses, class A and B felonies, person offenses,
sex offenses, and domestic violence offenses. For example, a
low-risk offender would likely receive a recommendation of an
own recognizance (OR) release; whereas a high-risk defendant in
an "Other" crime might receive a recommendation for a secure,
money, bond. The court would then make its decision based on a
judicial matrix. This allows for greater discretion than the
pretrial officers. She clarified that this process does not
remove any other decision processes stemming from input from:
law enforcement, victims, defense attorneys, or prosecutors.
"Those things remain in place and the pretrial assessment tool
provides for one other objective weight in evaluating the
appropriate release or detention decision."
2:36:01 PM
MS. MILLER-FOX listed some of the limitations of a pretrial risk
assessment tool: it will not predict behavior 100 percent of the
time for 100 per of the population; it will not replace
experienced and quality professionals, but it does lead to
better decision making; and despite some limitations, this
process is an enhancement to public safety and it fulfills a gap
and a request of criminal justice professionals that has existed
for more than 40 years.
She reported the following Alaska-specific data: only 12 percent
of defendants in the sample were released on personal
recognizance, and an additional 10 percent were released on an
unsecured money bail; 52 percent of sampled defendants were
never released prior to their case being resolved; and offenders
whose bail was set at $1,000 or more were detained an average of
seven weeks before they were able to secure their release. She
noted the latter were likely eligible for release on day one.
MS. MILLER-FOX pointed to a study done in Harris County, Texas
that looked at the potential cost savings between 2008 and 2013,
if misdemeanor defendants whose bail was $500 had been released
pretrial without financial conditions. This would have resulted
in 40,000 more defendants being released pretrial and would have
saved $20 million in supervision costs. She highlighted that
that money could have been spent on prevention for things like
drug addiction services.
She reviewed data from Kentucky to emphasize what Alaska could
potentially save if it changed pretrial procedures. In the state
of Kentucky, 88 percent of all arrested people are released at
the pretrial phase and approximately 3 percent are given extra
supervision conditions. Kentucky saved counties approximately
$25 million in jail costs in one year by increasing the pretrial
release rate by 5 percent. Supervision costs in Kentucky are 2
percent to 10 percent of the associated detention costs.
MS. MILLER-FOX displayed a grid that shows that for FY14 and
FY15, public safety in Kentucky has improved these pretrial
changes were initiated. In FY15, the overall release rate was 75
percent, the appearance rate was 85 percent, and the public
safety rate was 89 percent. She noted that Alaska currently does
not have this type of data, but it will in a year or two. She
relayed that data going back to the 1990s can be found on the
Kentucky state website. "And very little change in these numbers
over the course of that time," she added.
2:39:35 PM
SENATOR COSTELLO questioned whether people released pretrial
tend to reoffend. "If there is an 88 percent public safety, does
that mean that 12 percent of the people released actually
reoffended?"
MS. MILLER-FOX replied a public safety rate is defined by each
state or county. She relayed her belief that Kentucky looks at
these as a new criminal arrest.
She reviewed the comparative cost of services. The cost of
pretrial supervision is estimated to be about $4.60 per day,
whereas the cost of keeping that same person in jail is about
$149.62 per day. She explained that pretrial supervision would
include an assessment within 24 hours to determine level of
risk, followed by a report and recommendation to the court. At
the initial appearance, the court has the option from pretrial
supervision or some other decision, such as detention. A low-
risk offender who is released would be eligible for monitoring.
A moderate- or high-risk offender would be eligible for an
enhanced level of supervision.
2:42:24 PM
She noted that the DOC has many partners that are interested in
diversion opportunities for a mental health population, a tribal
court, or a substance abuse program. She highlighted that the
Division of Pretrial Services is working with Chief Michael
Hicks with the Cordova City Police Department and Sarah Kathrein
from the Native village of Eyak on a pilot tribal court pretrial
process. The intention is to start in September. Pretrial
services will be available statewide, but each community must
help determine how robust the program should be in their area.
CHAIR COGHILL thanked Commissioner Williams and Ms. Miller-Fox,
and welcomed Attorney General Lindemuth and John Skidmore to
discuss implementation issues for the Department of Law. "We
found out along the way that communication issues were almost as
big a part of the implementation as the actual collaborations
issues within a department," he added.
2:44:47 PM
JAHNA LINDEMUTH, Attorney General, Department of Law (DOL), said
she has been in this position for six months, is a member of the
Alaska Criminal Justice Commission ("Commission"), and has
attended all the meetings since she started. She relayed that
implementation is discussed at the meetings and the heads of
affected agencies are members of the Commission. The Criminal
Justice working group and subcommittees both meet and focus on
implementation and having the agencies communicate and
coordinate. Offline meetings are held to look for any gaps
between departments and the training efforts of these agencies
are compared to ensure consistency in implementation.
She described the active role the Department of Law,
specifically John Skidmore the director of the Criminal
Division, has taken to ensure that prosecutors, district
attorneys, and law enforcement statewide understand the changes
brought about by Senate Bill 91. She shared that she not only
attended some of these presentations, but also did her own
research on criminal justice reform. She related that when she
ran across a TED Talk where Adam Foss was presenting a
prosecutor's vision for a better justice system, she wanted to
suggest Mr. Skidmore include this in a future presentation, but
decided against interfering. However, separately he had come up
with the same TED Talk and showed it to the prosecutors.
ATTORNEY GENERAL LINDEMUTH referenced the training materials in
the packets that Mr. Skidmore used in two statewide trainings
for law enforcement and at the FBI National Academy Associates
Executive Development Conference. She estimated that more than
100 law enforcement attended the conference from across the
state. "These are high-level people who can then take this back
to their departments and do further trainings." She also
described Department of Law's outreach to communities. This
includes district attorneys regularly attending community
council meetings to help educate the public on changes to the
law and her op-ed for the Anchorage Daily News on the connection
between Senate Bill 91, the impacts of budget, and the heroin
epidemic. She maintained that Senate Bill 91 has been blamed for
more than it is responsible for. "There's these other factors
out there that have really complicated the picture for public
safety."
2:52:01 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI referenced an article she wrote last
November that said the Department of Law had lost 80 positions
over the last four years and its budget had been cut over 26
percent. He asked if she had any data to show whether that
impacted the way that felonies and misdemeanors have been
prosecuted and whether that is contributing to the public safety
crisis the state is experiencing.
ATTORNEY GENERAL LINDEMUTH reported that in 2015, the Department
of Law had to turn down 6 percent more cases than the year
before. Significantly, this was before Senate Bill 91 passed.
Since FY14, the Criminal Division [budget] has been reduced 11
percent or $3.3 million. That is a loss of 31 attorney and staff
positions. "That's a real significant loss of capacity at the
Department of Law to prosecute crimes." Current efforts are
being focused on felony crimes and those prosecutions are down
just 3 percent from 2013 numbers. However, the capacity to
prosecute misdemeanors has decreased 33 percent from 2013
numbers. That represents nearly 7,000 cases that were not
prosecuted for budget reasons alone.
CHAIR COGHILL said, "That is one reason that people are just
absolutely frantically wearied by thievery, especially at the
misdemeanor level."
SENATOR COSTELLO asked if 80 people actually lost their jobs or
if some of those positions were not filled prior to the budget
cut.
ATTORNEY GENERAL LINDEMUTH clarified that those were filled
positions; 80 people in both divisions lost their job.
Currently, the Department of Law has 455 positions, whereas in
2013 that number was was 541.
CHAIR COGHILL advised that two bills will be drafted. One is
technical and will include just the corrections that the
Commission highlighted in Recommendation 14-2017. The second
will be a substantive, policy bill that will primarily deal with
class C felonies, the question of escalating misdemeanor, and
violations of conditions of release. The other 10
recommendations have reasonable fixes.
2:58:49 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Coghill adjourned the Senate Judiciary Standing Committee
meeting at 2:58 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Arrest Authority Guidance.pdf |
SJUD 2/1/2017 1:30:00 PM |
|
| Drug Cheat Sheet.pdf |
SJUD 2/1/2017 1:30:00 PM |
|
| Department of Law Bill Review.pdf |
SJUD 2/1/2017 1:30:00 PM |
|
| FTA and VCOR Violations.pdf |
SJUD 2/1/2017 1:30:00 PM |
|
| SB 91 Practitioner Guide.pdf |
SJUD 2/1/2017 1:30:00 PM |
|
| SB 91 Pretrial Implementation.pdf |
SJUD 2/1/2017 1:30:00 PM |
|
| SB 91 Probation and Parole Implementation.pdf |
SJUD 2/1/2017 1:30:00 PM |