CENTER on sentencing and corrections

The Fiscal Crisis in Corrections
Rethinking Policies and Practices
JULY 2009

Christine S. Scott-Hayward

Executive Summary
States across the United States are facing the worst fiscal crisis in years. Declining revenues are forcing cuts
across virtually all government functions, including corrections, which for many years had been considered off
limits. The budgets of at least 22 state departments of corrections have been cut for FY2010, and even those
whose budgets have not been cut are reducing expenditures in certain areas. This report, drawing on a survey
of enacted FY2010 state budgets and recent legislation, looks at how officials are responding to these reductions and how others are mobilizing to find efficiencies and savings.
Most of the activity is occurring in three areas:
Operating Efficiencies: Though many state corrections departments squeezed out efficiencies during
the last recession, they are trying to eke out even more savings now. States are reducing healthcare services
or joining in purchasing agreements to lower the cost of inmate pharmaceuticals. Many states have reduced
corrections staff, instituted hiring freezes, reduced salaries or benefits, and/or eliminated pay increases. Others are consolidating facilities or halting planned expansions. Still others are eliminating or downsizing some
programs.
Recidivism Reduction Strategies: High rates of failure among people on probation and parole are a
significant driver of prison populations and costs in most states. To cut down on new offenses and the incarceration of rule violators, several states are strengthening their community corrections systems. Many states began
these efforts in the past few years as part of the national emphasis on helping people successfully return to the
community following their release from prison. States are now bolstering both their reentry programs and community supervision programs and working to improve outcomes for people on supervision.
Release Policies: The biggest budget savings come from policy changes that impact how many people
come into prison and how long they stay. Staffing typically accounts for 75 to 80 percent of corrections budgets, so substantial cost reductions can be achieved only when the prison population shrinks enough to shutter
a facility—whether a single cellblock or an entire prison. In FY2010, states looking for large cuts have turned to
release policies and found that they can identify some groups of people who can be safely released after serving
shorter terms behind bars.
Given that current state budget deficits are expected to continue and possibly increase over the coming years,
states will need to continue to find ways to control corrections costs. Each year, the decisions will become more
difficult. Management strategies may extend operating efficiencies, but the resulting cost savings are likely to
fall short of what states will need to make ends meet. When deeper cuts are required, states will have to shift
expenditures from costly prisons to far more economical investments in community corrections and confront
controversial questions about which people really need to go to prison and how long they should stay. State
governments are beginning to rise to the challenge of cutting corrections costs while maintaining or even boosting public safety. This paper highlights some of the innovative and creative ways they are doing so.



The Fiscal Crisis in Corrections: Rethinking Policies and Practices

From The Center Director
The story of the rise in incarceration rates in the United
States and the associated increase in corrections expenditures is not new. In most states, prisons are full or overcrowded and corrections absorbs significant resources—
more than $50 billion in 2008. What is new is the states’
recent focus on cutting corrections costs and improving
criminal justice outcomes.
This report, from Vera’s Center on Sentencing and Corrections, examines how states are responding to the current
fiscal crisis and attempting to make changes in their criminal justice systems that will not only reduce costs but also
enhance public safety and reduce recidivism.
This report could not be more timely. Political leaders on
both sides of the aisle are looking for cost-effective ways
to increase public safety. Fortunately, for the past number
of years, researchers and practitioners around the country
have developed and tested new and innovative criminal
justice policies that work to reduce recidivism. And these
policies are gaining support at all levels of the government
—from state governments to the Department of Justice,
where Attorney General Eric Holder has repeatedly supported using modern, evidence-based methods for developing policy.
As policymakers navigate their budget shortfalls this year
and next, we hope this report provides them with useful
evidence-based options for cutting costs and increasing
public safety.

Peggy McGarry
Director, Center on Sentencing and Corrections

Introduction
As their 2009 legislative sessions ended, many states were
still working to balance their budgets. Deficits that affected a handful of states in FY2008 had become widespread:
Forty-three states were facing an aggregate budget gap in
FY2009 of more than $100 billion, undermining funding
for essential services such as education, health care, and
corrections. More shortfalls were projected for FY2010,
and at least 31 states had forecast budget gaps for FY2011.1
These gaps would be even greater without the availability
of federal stimulus funds.
Second only to Medicaid, corrections has become the
fastest growing general fund expenditure in the United
States.2 Two million three hundred thousand people in
the U.S. are now in prison or jail—more than one in 100
adults.3 On any given day 7.3 million adults are under federal, state, or local correctional control (including those on
probation, parole, and other forms of supervision)—one in
31 adults.4 In FY2008, the most recent year data are available, states spent an estimated $47 billion of general funds
on corrections, an increase of 303 percent since 1988. They
spent an additional $4 billion in special funds and bonds
and $900 million in federal funds, bringing total corrections expenditures to nearly $52 billion. With one in every
15 state general fund dollars now spent on corrections,
officials have little choice but to look there for savings. In
doing so, however, they must be careful to find cuts that
will not compromise public safety.
This report, based on a survey of enacted FY2010 state
budgets and other recent sentencing and corrections
legislation, found that at least 22 states have reversed the
trend of recent decades and cut funding for corrections.5
The report examines the form of these cuts: reductions in
operational costs, strategies for reducing recidivism, and
reforms in release policies. It also highlights a number of
innovations that states are pursuing for long-term cost
reductions.



The Effect of
the Fiscal Crisis
on Corrections
States have responded to the budget
shortfalls in different ways. In some
cases, policymakers have made no
cuts to corrections budgets. Often
this is because legislators and/or
governors want to insulate public
safety agencies from statewide cuts.
In Indiana, for example, where most
executive branch agency budgets
were reduced by 8 percent, public
safety was named one of four priority areas and the Department of

Correction’s FY2010 budget was increased by more than 6 percent from
FY2009. Arkansas also saw increases
of greater than 5 percent.
Most states, however, cut their corrections budgets. Corrections spending decreased in 22 of the 33 states
for which numbers were available.
Six states—Georgia, Idaho, Kansas,
Montana, Nebraska and Washington—saw double-digit decreases.6
Whether their corrections budgets are up or down, some states are
investing for long-term savings. Wisconsin, for example, which is facing a
$6.6 billion deficit over the next two
years, increased its corrections budget by more than 3 percent, including
an appropriation of $10 million to
expand community-based treatment

for people on community supervision. This investment is expected to
yield lower costs in years to come.
Table 1, opposite page, summarizes
the actions taken by the states that
responded to the survey.

Seeking
Operating
Efficiencies
State agencies faced with imminent
cuts often find reducing operational
costs to be the quickest and easiest step to take. During the budget
shortfalls that occurred earlier this

Changes in Corrections Budgets FY2009-FY2010

> 10% Decrease
10 – 5.1% Decrease
< 5% Decrease
0 – 5% Increase
5.1 – 10% Increase
No information available

Note: States for which no information is available are states that have yet to enact FY2010 budgets or that did not respond to our survey.



The Fiscal Crisis in Corrections: Rethinking Policies and Practices

Table 1: Corrections Budget Changes and Cost-Saving Efforts in Fiscal Year 2010

Corrections Budget
Changes

State

Initial FY2010
appropriations
(in millions)

% change
in initial
appropriations
from FY2009 to
FY2010

AL
AK
AZ
AR
CO
DE
FL
GA
ID
IN
IA
KS
KY
LA
ME
MD
MA
MN
MO
MT
NE
NV
NJ
NM
NY
nD*
OK
OR**
RI
SC
VA
WA***
WI

$366.2
$212.4
$876.3
$290.4
$677.6
$249.5
$2,297.9
$986.6
$150.7
$678.8
$356.5
$215.1
$440.4
$604.4
$165.3
$1,049.6
$521.1
$430.9
$656.9
$167.4
$120.8
$257.7
$1,052.1
$284.6
$2,300.9
$70.5
$503
$604.7
$177.4
$330
$973.4
$1,555.7
$1,123.9

-1.13
-0.16
-7.51
5.31
0.38
-3.71
1.64
-14.77
-14.35
6.38
-4.31
-21.98
3.73
-7.63
3.49
-4.59
-1.78
-8.75
-1.48
-11.19
-18.06
-.08
1.50
-4.21
-3.76
1.29
0
-4.63
-0.69
-1.97
-4.22
-10.37
3.49

Cost-Saving Efforts in FY2010 Budgets
Decrease
health
services
(medical,
mental
health, or
dental)

Reduce
food
services

Eliminate pay
increases,
reduce
benefits, or
decrease
overtime

Staff
reductions
or hiring
freezes

x

x

x

x

x
x

x
x
x
x
x
x

x

x

x
x

x

x

x

x
x

x

x

x
x

x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x

Eliminate
or reduce
programs or
discontinue/
renegotiate
contracts for
programming

Close
facilities
or reduce
beds

Delay
expansion or
construction
of new
facilities

x
x

x

x
x

x
x
x
x

x
x
x
x
x
x

x
x

x
x

x

x
x
x

x

x

x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x

x
x
x
x

x
x
x
x

x
x
x
x

x
x
x
x

x

x
x
x
x
x
x

x
x
x
x
x
x
x

x
x
x
x

x
x

x

x
x

x
x

x
x

x

x

Note: Corrections budgets are given for informational purposes only. Some budgets include appropriations for probation, parole, and/or juvenile corrections,
while others only include adult corrections expenditures.
Sources: Enacted budgets; interviews with state departments of corrections officials.
At time of printing, seven states—California, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Ohio—had not passed budgets for FY2010.
*FY2009-2011 Biennium. Figure for FY2010 is an estimate provided by the North Dakota Department of Corrections.
**FY2009-2011 Biennium. Figure for FY2010 estimated by the Oregon Department of Corrections at 48 percent of the agency’s biennial budget.
*** FY2009-2011 Biennium. The Washington Department of Corrections was unable to provide a figure for FY2010.



decade, most states followed this
path by consolidating facilities or
reducing beds, reducing personnel
costs, or eliminating programs.7 They
are taking similar actions for FY2010.
Almost every state that responded to
our survey (30 of 33), including those
whose corrections budgets were not
reduced, has adopted such cost-cutting measures.
The specific strategies for finding
such savings vary, however. Healthcare costs associated with corrections
have been a common target. Maine,
for example, renegotiated the contract with its healthcare provider and
also changed the way it dispensed
medications to inmates. More controversially, a few states have reduced
the food services provided to inmates: Georgia, for example, reduced
the number of meals provided to inmates, (while still providing the same
number of calories). Some states,
including Kansas and New York, have
postponed planned expenditures and
put holds on technology upgrades.
However, the most common cost-cutting measures for FY2010 fall into
three broad categories: reducing personnel costs, downsizing programs,
and closing facilities.

Personnel Savings
At least 28 states have reduced staff,
instituted hiring freezes, reduced salaries or benefits, and/or eliminated
pay increases. Alabama eliminated
merit and cost-of-living pay raises
and froze hiring of all corrections personnel except correctional officers.
New York extended an existing hiring freeze and eliminated nonessential administrative positions. Idaho’s
Department of Corrections recently



announced plans to cut 38 jobs and
require all workers to take unpaid
furloughs over the course of the fiscal
year. Nevada and New Mexico are
among several states that passed
increases in medical insurance costs
on to their employees.

Downsizing Programs
In recent years, many states strengthened their community supervision
services by expanding treatment and
other programs. Unfortunately, budget deficits have forced many states
to make some cuts to these programs.
At least 19 states have eliminated
or reduced programs or discontinued or renegotiated contracts for
programming. Most of these states
have been able to cut costs without
eliminating any programs entirely.
For example, Louisiana consolidated
some programs while New Mexico
halted proposed expansion of reentry
and other prison programs. Other
states have made more significant
cuts. Delaware reduced funding for
some substance use and community
treatment programs while Colorado
reduced some parole services. Kansas,
one of the national leaders in community corrections, saw some of the
worst cuts. Treatment programs in
the community were severely impacted with 80 percent of substance
abuse treatment slots and over
half of sex offender treatment slots
eliminated. Some in-prison academic
and vocational education programs
were also eliminated. The state is attempting to restore funding for some
of these programs by shifting some
financing from the general fund to
federally funded Byrne Grants. The
fear is that the gains in recent years

The Fiscal Crisis in Corrections: Rethinking Policies and Practices

will be reversed when the programs
are eliminated. However, at least one
state used the need to cut programs
as justification for eliminating ineffective practices. New York recently
ended its Prison Farm operations
in recognition of the fact that its
usefulness as a vocational tool has
diminished. It also eliminated a drug
treatment program—Road to Recovery—that was underutilized and had
a low completion rate.

Closing Prisons
Despite opposition from corrections unions, local businesses, some
lawmakers, and others, several states
elected to close facilities. Hit especially hard by the economic crisis and
facing a $1.7 billion budget deficit in
FY2010, Michigan governor Jennifer
Granholm announced that she would
close three prisons and five prison
camps (laying off up to 500 employees) to save $118 million annually.
This is in addition to two prisons and
one prison camp that have already
been closed this year.8 Similarly, New
York plans to close three minimum
security correctional camps and
parts of seven more facilities. These
closures are expected to save more
than $50 million over the next two
fiscal years.
Other states have halted expansion or delayed the openings of new
facilities. Alaska, for example, will
save more than $700,000 in FY2010
by freezing prison system expansion.
Colorado delayed opening one prison
and delayed the staffing and expansion of another. All told, at least 20
states have shut facilities, reduced
beds, halted expansions, or delayed
the opening of new facilities. It bears

noting, however, that not all states
are in a position to take such actions.
Only those that have engaged in policy reforms that lowered their prison
populations can take this step. Some
of these successful policy changes are
discussed below.

Reducing Costs
Associated
with
Recidivism
A growing body of research suggests
that improving community supervision and helping formerly incarcerated people reintegrate into society
can save money and, in many cases,
also increase public safety. Over the
past decade, more and more states
have begun to focus on these strategies. Actions taken during recent legislative sessions show an increased
willingness to invest scarce resources
in evidence-based programs and
initiatives in these areas.

Improving Community
Supervision
Given that more than five million
people in the United States are on
probation, parole, or post-prison supervision and that many of them will
return to prison for failing to comply
with their conditions of supervision,
states are looking for ways to reduce
both the cost of supervision and the
number of technical violations that
return people into custody—violations of conditions of release, such as
not attending meetings with parole

officers or failing drug tests. The costs
of technical violations are huge: more
than one-third of prison admissions
are the result of a parole violation.9
An increasing number of states are
relying on “evidence-based” policies and practices, which have been
shown by research to reduce recidivism among individuals on community supervision. These include using
graduated responses to violations,
eliminating or minimizing supervision requirements for lower-risk
people, using positive reinforcements, and adopting incentive funding. (Many of these strategies are
described in the sidebar on page 12.)
Graduated Responses. Graduated responses represent a range of
actions, each more emphatic than the
former, that provide supervision officials with alternatives to revocation.
Since 2007, nine states have established formal graduated response
grids, providing a set of options for
responding swiftly and certainly to
both compliant and non-compliant
behavior. New York and Wyoming
are currently considering response
grids like this. Two other states, Missouri and Arkansas, are developing
technical violator centers, an additional graduated response involving short-term intensive residential
programming to serve as a last resort
before returning a violator to prison.
Reducing Supervision Requirements. To reduce supervision costs and focus scarce resources
on those who are most at risk of
violating or committing a new offense, some states are shortening
periods of supervision; others are

reducing, or eliminating, supervision
requirements for certain populations
altogether. Virginia now requires
judges to remove from supervision
people who have been supervised for
at least two years and have satisfied
all conditions except the payment of
restitution, fines, or costs. Washington eliminated supervised probation
of people convicted of misdemeanors
and some low-level felonies. Texas
has reduced the maximum probation
terms for people convicted of certain
property or drug offenses from 10 to
five years, allowing officials to focus
supervision resources on the early
years after release, when research
shows people are most likely to commit new crimes. The Washington Department of Corrections is also preparing to end supervision of low-risk
people (except those convicted of a
sex offense), and Wisconsin’s department of corrections may discharge
people from community supervision
if they have completed 50 percent of
the probation period.
Positive Rewards. Some states
are increasing the use of positive
rewards. At least two states have
established or expanded earned compliance credits for people on community supervision. Arizona passed
legislation last year that allows some
people on probation to reduce their
supervision term by up to 20 days for
every 30 days they comply with the
terms of their release and are current
in payments of victim restitution.
Nevada passed a similar provision in
2007, increasing the credits earned
by parolees who are current with
supervision fees and restitution
payments. These provisions provide



Reentry/Transition Planning Efforts
California: Despite an overall reduction in expenditures, California’s proposed budget includes $47.2 million
to pay for the activation of the Northern California Reentry
Facility. This is a former women’s prison that has been converted to a 500-bed secure reentry facility that will house
male inmates for up to 12 months prior to parole. The facility will provide programs and services to people returning
to three Northern California counties. These programs and
services will include intensive substance abuse treatment,
vocational training and job placement, academic education, housing placement, anger management classes, family counseling, and other targeted services to ease the
transition to the community. In addition, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is engaging in
ongoing communication with local stakeholders to ensure
continuity of service after people leave the facility.

dergo three to six months of pre-release training on topics
such as communication skills, money management training,
housing resources, and succeeding on parole.

Colorado: The FY2010 Crime Prevention and Recidivism Reduction Package establishes and provides $160,000
in funding for community corrections discharge planning.
This includes discharge planning services for people with
mental health and substance abuse needs who are transitioning into community corrections. The package also provides more than $1.2 million to continue a pre-release program initiated in FY2009. This program provides discharge
planning to inmates within four months of release through
individualized education modules and detailed transition
planning.

Missouri: The FY2010 budget provides $3 million to
expand the community reentry grants program, which
makes funds available to local agencies and nonprofit organizations to support reentry. The budget also provides
$900,000 for ongoing funding of the St. Louis reentry program, a pilot being converted to a permanent program.

Connecticut: Governor Jodi Rell’s proposed FY2010
budget would reinstate and expand the commissioner
of correction’s authority to place inmates on reentry furloughs. The reentry furlough will release people from prison up to 45 days early and provide accountability, support,
and aftercare services to released individuals for a period
of community supervision and is estimated to save more
than $5 million each year.
Louisiana: In March 2009, Governor Bobby Jindal announced the establishment of a program designed to prepare state prison inmates for release and reentry into society. The program will be piloted in two parishes at a cost
of $1.1 million in FY2010 and will eventually expand to 10
regional offices. Inmates will be evaluated medically, mentally, and educationally when they enter prison and will un-



Maryland: The FY2010 budget for the Division of Probation and Parole contains funds to expand the state’s Violence Prevention Initiative (launched in FY2009). This initiative aims to reduce reoffending among the state’s most
violent supervisees and uses techniques such as stricter
supervision, follow-up counseling, and GPS monitoring.
Michigan: Although the proposed FY2010 budget for
the state’s department of corrections was cut by almost
3 percent from FY2009, funding for the Michigan Prisoner
Re-entry Initiative was expanded by $23.4 million to $56.6
million. This initiative aims to reduce the state’s costly recidivism rate by better preparing inmates for release.

Montana: Montana’s FY2010 budget provides almost
$1 million to add 33 beds to the Great Falls Pre-Release
Center, a facility that serves mentally ill and aging/disabled
inmates as they transition from secure custody to community placements.
Texas: Legislation in 2009 (HB 1711) requires the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice to establish a comprehensive reentry plan for people leaving correctional facilities.
The goal is to reduce recidivism and ensure the successful reentry and reintegration of inmates into the community. This will be accomplished with needs assessments,
new programs, including a network of transition programs,
and information sharing across agencies and with private
providers. The act also establishes a multi-agency Reentry
Taskforce, which will identify gaps in services and coordinate with providers.

The Fiscal Crisis in Corrections: Rethinking Policies and Practices

incentives for people to complete the
terms of their probation and parole
supervision, saving states money in
both the short and long term.
Incentive Funding. Finally,
some states are adopting incentive
funding to improve the performance
of county systems. Both Kansas and
Arizona recently adopted legislation that provides counties with
incentives to adopt evidence-based
practices and programming to
reduce the rate of probation or community corrections revocations in
their jurisdictions. In the first year of
implementation in Kansas, community corrections revocations dropped
statewide by 21.9 percent.10 This year,
the Illinois General Assembly passed
the Crime Reduction Act, which directs state funds toward locally based
sanctions and treatment alternatives
if the local jurisdiction successfully
reduces the number of people entering local or state incarceration facilities.11 Similar performance incentive
funding is under review in California.

Reentry and Reducing
Returns to Prison
People returning from prison face
a variety of challenges. These include reconnecting with family and
peers, finding housing and employment, and more generally, avoiding
criminal activity. There is growing,
nationwide interest and support for
comprehensive reentry planning
and services—with the understanding that these must begin when an
individual enters prison. There is also
a recognition that these services, by
reducing the likelihood that a person
will return to prison, can help save

states money.
Colorado was in the vanguard of
this trend in 2007, when it adopted
the Crime Prevention and Recidivism
Reduction Package, authorizing the
use of evidence-based, cost-effective
reforms aimed at reducing recidivism. Despite limited funds, Governor Bill Ritter extended this effort
into FY2009-10 with an additional
$9.5 million appropriation to fund a
series of reforms that are expected to
save the state more than $380 million
over the next five years.12
Other states are also considering
developing or expanding reentry programs. Connecticut, for example, recently established reentry furloughs
that not only accelerate prison
releases, but also provide aftercare
services to people transitioning from
prison to community supervision.
The aftercare provision is supported
by evidence-based research that
clearly demonstrates that a period of
community supervision and targeted
interventions after release lower the
risk of recidivism.
To reduce the second highest recidivism rate in the country, Louisiana’s
governor, Bobby Jindal, recently
established a program to prepare
people in prison for release and reentry into society. Inmates will be
evaluated when they enter prison for
their educational, health, and mental
health needs, and participants will
undergo three to six months of prerelease programming. The program
will be piloted in two parishes and
then expanded to 10 regional offices.
Maryland and Michigan are
expanding their existing reentry
initiatives. Proposed funding for the
Michigan Prisoner Re-entry Initiative

more than doubled between FY2009
and FY2010, in large part due to the
role it is has played in reducing that
state’s prison population.13 (Details on
these initiatives as well as other state
activity in this area are highlighted
in Reentry/Transition Planning Efforts, opposite page.)

Accelerating
Prison Releases
Many states are facing the increased
fiscal consequences from years of
harsher policies—such as truth-insentencing requirements, “three
strikes” laws, and mandatory minimum sentences—that have resulted
in long sentences. While there is
wide consensus that tougher penalties are necessary and appropriate
for those convicted of serious violent
or sex offenses, many policymakers
are questioning the need for long
prison terms for people convicted
of less serious crimes such as nonviolent drug offenses. Some of these
provisions were reversed during the
fiscal crisis earlier this decade, but
many remain, resulting in severe
prison overcrowding in some states.14
States are also presented with a
growing number of elderly and
chronically ill prisoners whose ongoing care requires significant
resources. To address these issues,
officials have added or modified the
laws and policies that determine
the amount of time people spend in
prison. These changes have the potential to lower prison populations,
allowing states to close facilities and



Systematic Reform: Sentencing Commissions and
Task forces
To ensure that policy reforms are systematic and sustainable, many states have
established sentencing commissions or other task forces to plan their sentencing
and corrections strategies or to address particular areas of concern.
Sentencing commissions typically are designed to be neutral permanent bodies
that analyze data and research to inform sentencing and corrections policies. In
the past, most sentencing commissions were established and charged with developing some form of sentencing guidelines. Recent trends, however, indicate
that many states are now creating or expanding commissions to address broader
criminal justice policy agendas. Colorado, Nevada, New York, and Vermont all
created sentencing commissions in 2007, none of which were primarily charged
with implementing sentencing guidelines.15 The trend continues this year with
the passage in Illinois of legislation to establish a Sentencing Policy Advisory
Council. This council will collect and analyze data from local criminal justice agencies and provide policymakers with the information they need to make sound
planning decisions. Connecticut will be considering a similar sentencing commission, recommended by its bi-partisan Sentencing Task Force, during its special
budget session.
Other states are establishing task forces to deal with specific issues. For example,
in 2009, Colorado’s legislature passed a bill mandating the study of sentencing
in Colorado by the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice (CCCJJ). The
CCCJJ was set up in 2007 to enhance public safety, ensure justice, and protect
the rights of victims through the cost-effective use of public resources. The 2009
legislation directs the CCCJJ to focus specifically on sentencing reform.
Virginia, which has had a sentencing commission for many years, recently established the Alternatives for Nonviolent Offenders Task Force. This body is charged
with developing recommendations to expand the use of alternative methods of
punishment for nonviolent, lower-risk individuals who have been sentenced by a
court to a term of incarceration. The state’s goal is for these recommendations
to inform legislation that would reduce the growth in the number of nonviolent,
lower-risk individuals entering state correctional facilities, thus saving the state
money.

reduce corrections expenses in the
longer term.

Good Time/Earned Time
Many states are considering or have
increased the amount of good time
(days off for good behavior) or earned
time (days off for doing something
productive) available to inmates:16
>	Colorado recently increased
earned time for eligible inmates from 10 to 12 days per
month. It also provided for
early parole release of up to
60 days for certain inmates.
>	The Illinois Department
of Corrections is weighing
reinstituting an early release
program for people convicted
of low-level and nonviolent
drug offenses.
>	Ohio is considering a seven
day earned credit policy that
would cut seven days from
the sentence for every month
that a person is engaged in
prison treatment or programs, yielding projected annual savings of $11,407,009.
>	Oregon recently enacted
legislation increasing the
amount of earned time people may accumulate from 20
percent of their sentence to
30 percent of their sentence.

Availability of Parole
Other states have focused on increasing the availability of parole:

10

The Fiscal Crisis in Corrections: Rethinking Policies and Practices

>	Governor Jennifer Granholm
of Michigan expanded the
parole board from 10 to 15
members so that it can expedite the review and possible
parole of 12,000 inmates who
have served their minimum
sentences.
>	Idaho’s department of corrections will provide resources
to the state’s Pardons and
Parole Commission to reduce
the number of inmates
incarcerated past their parole
eligibility dates.
>	To reduce severe overcrowding, California prison officials
have granted early releases
(of up to 60 days) to some
people serving prison time
for parole violations or who
are in prison awaiting a
hearing on a parole violation. All people released were
screened and approved by
the parole board.
>	Mississippi is enhancing
coordination between the
department of corrections
and the parole board and
recently provided the parole
board with a list of 2,900
nonviolent inmates for consideration of parole.

Medical or Geriatric
Parole
Providing health care to the growing
number of elderly and chronically
ill people in prison presents states
with a significant financial burden.
A number of states have proposed

new, or modified existing, medical or
geriatric release provisions to avoid
sole responsibility for these costs. By
releasing this population and placing them in the community, states
can share the medical costs with the
federal government under Medicare
and Medicaid rules. In 2008, at least
seven states established medical or
geriatric parole, or expanded already
existing provisions.17 Several other
states have followed their lead this
year:
>	New York expanded the eligibility requirements of the
current medical parole policy
for a projected cost savings of
$2 million annually.
>	Washington projects $1.5
million in savings from its
new geriatric and medical
parole release policy, which
allows early release for adult
inmates who are chronically
or terminally ill and 55 years
or older.

an incentive to participate in pre-release programs designed to reduce
recidivism. At sentencing, people
convicted of some low-level offenses
may be eligible to receive two minimum sentences: the regular minimum and a shorter, risk-reduction
incentive minimum. If the inmate
completes programming required
by the department of corrections
based on a risk/needs assessment
and also demonstrates satisfactory
institutional behavior, he or she will
be released after serving the risk
reduction minimum. The fiscal benefits to this policy are twofold. Not
only does it reduce the length of stay
for participants, but by encouraging
participation in programs designed
to meet their criminogenic needs, it
reduces the likelihood that they will
return to prison after release.

>	Wisconsin’s Earned Release
Review Commission (formerly the Parole Commission)
was given the authority to
release inmates with extraordinary health conditions to
extended supervision as long
as public safety is maintained.

Risk-Reduction
Sentences
Risk-reduction sentences are a sentencing option recently adopted in
two states, Pennsylvania (2008) and
Wisconsin (2009), that give inmates

11

Reducing Prison Admissions by Strengthening Community Corrections
Given the high rates at which people on probation, parole,
and post-prison supervision are incarcerated for failing to
comply with the conditions of their release or for committing new offenses, community corrections is an area
ripe for policy change. Reducing these failure rates could
decrease the overall corrections populations, which is key
to saving states money. Some of the most promising strategies for reducing failure rates are collected in the Pew
Public Safety Performance Project’s Policy Framework to
Strengthen Community Corrections.

the elements is typically limited and far outweighed by the
potential long-term cost savings they can generate.
Several states have already begun to adopt the framework. Illinois’s Crime Reduction Act, for example, establishes three of the five policy options as part of package
of criminal justice reforms undertaken this year. The legislation, which was passed unanimously by both houses of
the General Assembly and is awaiting the governor’s signature, calls for implementing evidence-based practices
such as:

In 2008, the Public Safety Performance Project of the Pew
Center on the States brought together leading policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to create a policy
framework for strengthening community corrections.18
The framework includes five innovative policy options that
have already been implemented in several states:

>	using a risk and needs assessment tool to assign
individuals to supervision levels and programs,
>	developing individualized case plans to guide
case management decisions,
>	implementing a system of graduated responses
to guide responses to violations, and

>	Evidence-based practices
>	Earned compliance credits

>	providing professional development services to
support staff in deploying these practices.

>	Administrative sanctions
>	Performance incentive funding
>	Performance measurement

Although each of these policies has the potential to reduce recidivism and control corrections costs on its own,
they promise an even greater impact when implemented
together. The initial expenditure associated with some of

12

The legislation also establishes Adult Redeploy Illinois, a
program that directs state funds toward local efforts at rehabilitation. This system of incentive funding will be used
to support locally based sanctions and treatment alternatives that reduce the number of people entering local or
state incarceration facilities.

The Fiscal Crisis in Corrections: Rethinking Policies and Practices

A Look Toward
the Future:
Sustainable
Policy Changes
that Cut Costs
A series of sentencing policies enacted over the past three decades—
including mandatory minimums,
habitual offender laws, enhanced
sentences for drug offenders, and
truth in sentencing—have helped
generate the high incarceration rates
that many states face today.19 Even
though most states have stopped enacting such policies, and some have
begun to repeal earlier legislation,
their corrections systems must still
contend with the costs these policies

incurred. Fortunately, new and innovative policies implemented over
the past 10 years suggest that states
can both save money by slowing the
growth of their prison populations
and, in the process, also increase public safety—a combination formerly
considered inconceivable.
Despite facing severe budget cuts,
many states continue to invest in
these new policies. Yet such investments cannot be taken for granted.
Over the past decade, Kansas made
huge improvements in its community supervision practices, becoming a national leader for achieving
significant reductions in the number
of people returned to prison from
probation and parole. However, it
recently made program cuts that
jeopardize this progress. It is critical
that other states consider the repercussions of cutting programs that
have a positive impact on system and

individual outcomes. Fortunately,
sentencing commissions—independent, government-sanctioned bodies
that inform sentencing and corrections policymaking—have also been
established recently in many states.
These bodies may help ensure that
policy reforms are thoughtful and
sustainable (see box on page 10).
The next several years will be
difficult ones for the states as they
continue to confront severe budget
shortfalls. This analysis of current
trends, drawing on FY2010 budgets
and recent legislation, suggests that
many states are not simply looking
for operational efficiencies. Rather,
they are taking advantage of the
opportunity this crisis presents to
invest in innovative, evidence-based
options that have proven to cut corrections costs while maintaining or
even improving public safety.

13

Endnotes

1	National Conference of State Legislatures, State Budget Update: April
2009.

11	At press time, the act was awaiting Governor Pat Quinn’s signature.

2	All cost figures from the National Association of State Budget Officers,
State Expenditure Reports.

12	Memorandum from Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting,
November 1, 2008, available at http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?blo
bcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=
MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1227118480154&ssbinary=true.

3	Pew Center on the States, One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008,
(Washington, DC: Public Safety Performance Project ,The Pew Charitable
Trusts, February 2008).

13	At press time, Michigan had yet to pass its FY2010 budget.

4	Pew Center on the States, One in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections (Washington, DC: Public Safety Performance Project, The Pew
Charitable Trusts, March 2009).
5	This report is based on FY2010 enacted budgets, other legislation, newspaper reports, and a survey of state departments of corrections budget
officials. At press time, seven states had not enacted budgets for FY2010.
Of the remaining 43 states, 33 responded to our survey.
6	 Officials in Kansas and Nebraska made these cuts knowing that a portion
of the decrease in general fund appropriations would be made up by
federal stimulus funds.
7	 Jon Wool and Don Stemen, Changing Fortunes or Changing Attitudes?
Sentencing and Corrections Reforms in 2003 (New York: Vera Institute of
Justice, March 2004).
8	Michigan’s fiscal year does not begin until October 1, so its FY2010 has
not yet been enacted.
9	Heather C. West and William J. Sabol, Prisoners in 2007 (Washington,
DC: U.S. Department of Justice, 2008).

14	Daniel F. Wilhelm and Nicholas R. Turner, Is the Budget Crisis Changing the Way We Look at Sentencing and Incarceration (New York: Vera
Institute of Justice, June 2002).
15	South Carolina is an exception to this rule and in 2008 established a Sentencing Reform Commission to review, study, and recommend legislation
for sentencing guidelines, the parole system, and alternative sentencing
procedures for nonviolent offenders.
16	For a recent review of earned time policies for state prisoners, see Alison
Lawrence, Cutting Corrections Costs: Earned Time Policies for State
Prisoners (Washington DC: National Conference of State Legislators, July
2009).
17	Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania
and Wyoming.
18	Pew Center on the States Public Safety Performance Project, Policy
Framework to Strengthen Community Corrections, December 15, 2008.
19	Don Stemen, Andres Rengifo, and Jim Wilson, Of Fragmentation and
Ferment: The Impact of State Sentencing Policies on Incarceration Rates,
1975-2002 (New York: Vera Institute of Justice, 2005).

10	Kansas Department of Corrections, Community Corrections Services
Divisions, Kansas Community Corrections Statewide Risk Initiative Annual
Report, January 12, 2009.

14

The Fiscal Crisis in Corrections: Rethinking Policies and Practices

© Vera Institute of Justice 2009. All rights reserved.
The author thanks the representatives of the state departments of corrections that responded to our survey. She also thanks Vera
staff members Adrienne Austin, Paavana Kumar, and especially Michael Woodruff for their research assistance. She thanks Robin
Campbell and Abbi Leman for editing assistance. Finally, thanks to Peggy McGarry, Maggie Peck, and Alison Shames of Vera, and
Adam Gelb and Richard Jerome of the Pew Center on the States, for providing feedback in the writing of this publication.
Additional copies are available from the Vera Institute of Justice, 233 Broadway, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10279, (212) 334-1300.
An electronic version is available on Vera’s web site, www.vera.org.
For more information about Vera’s Center on Sentencing and Corrections, contact the center’s director, Peggy McGarry, pmcgarry@
vera.org.
The Vera Institute of Justice is an independent nonprofit organization that combines expertise in research, demonstration projects,
and technical assistance to help leaders in government and civil society improve the systems people rely on for justice and safety.

Suggested Citation
Christine S. Scott-Hayward, The Fiscal Crisis in Corrections: Rethinking Policies and
Practices. New York: Vera Institute of Justice, 2009.

This report was funded by the Public Safety
Performance Project of the Pew Center on the States

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