Bi-partisan bill provides greater public safety returns on state corrections dollars
ATLANTA – The Georgia House of Representatives today passed House Bill 1176 with a vote 164 to 1, showing overwhelming bipartisan support for the measure. HB 1176 is a comprehensive public safety and corrections reform bill that will save Georgia taxpayers funds while improving public safety.
“Drug users get caught in a vicious cycle,” said Rep. Rich Golick (R-Smyrna). “They commit a nonviolent crime to support their drug habit and get sent to prison – where they receive no rehabilitation – only to quickly get arrested again after their release. When rehabilitation would end this perpetual cycle, it makes no sense to unnecessarily continue clogging our courts and prisons with low-risk addicts, especially when the state’s limited number of prison beds should be reserved for locking away dangerous criminals. Drug courts and community rehabilitation centers will allow us to do this at a fraction of the cost while still ensuring accountability for past crimes.”
“Georgia’s criminal justice system is filled with offenders living with substance abuse problems, and our current system does not address this reality,” said Rep. Jay Neal (R-LaFayette). “By redirecting some of the money we spend incarcerating low-risk, non-violent offenders with substance abuse problems toward more effective community-based options that cost less and produce better outcomes, we will make all of Georgia’s communities safer.”
HB 1176 would concentrate prison space on violent and career criminals by enhancing penalties for some serious offenders and more effectively punishing low-level drug users and property offenders. It creates tougher, more effective probation supervision; improves community based sentencing options, such as accountability courts, that reduce recidivism; and holds agencies accountable for better results through data collection and performance measurement systems.
If approved by the Senate and Governor Deal, the legislation will place Georgia in the company of more than a dozen states, including Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas and Kentucky that are implementing criminal justice policies designed to improve public safety, hold offenders accountable, and control corrections costs.
This legislation is the product of more than six months of work by the Special Council on Criminal Justice Reform for Georgians. This bipartisan, inter-branch council conducted an in-depth analysis of the state’s sentencing and corrections data and met with a wide range of stakeholders including victim advocates, sheriffs, prosecutors and county officials. The council found that drug and property offenders account for almost 60 percent of all prison admissions.
Since 1990, Georgia’s prison population has more than doubled to nearly 56,000 inmates. Today, the state spends over $1 billion annually on corrections. Despite this growth, Georgia’s recidivism rate has remained unchanged at nearly 30 percent during the past decade. If current sentencing and corrections policies remain in place, Georgia’s prison population is projected to grow by 8 percent by 2016, presenting the state with the need to spend an additional $264 million to expand capacity.
Members of a special joint legislative committee approved HB 1176 before sending it to the House floor for consideration. The bill will now go to the state Senate for consideration.