Arkansas Lawmakers are considering ideas to address prison overcrowding in advance of the 2015 session of the Arkansas Legislature.
On Tuesday, members of a committee heard the findings of a report that suggests re-entry programs, a possible tax credit for businesses that hire offenders and establish community-based organization to bolster support programs.
Kevin Murphy, assistant director with the Arkansas Department of Community Correction, said 2,000 to 2,500 re-entry program beds would help address recidivism in the state. Currently, 42 percent of the state’s inmates return to prison within three years of their release.
“We can pull those inmates who are approximately six months to nine months from the end of their sentence into a re-entry program close to where they are going to be paroling to where they can get intense assistance to be able to succeed,” he said.
Authors of the “Act 1190 Comprehensive Final Report,” had suggested 4,000 beds for a re-entry program, which Murphy said was ambitious.
According to the report, a coordinated statewide network of agencies and service providers is needed to tackle overcrowding in county jails in the longer term.
In the session that begins in January, lawmakers will consider building a 1,000 bed, maximum-security prison to ease the number backed up in county jails. There are currently more than 24-hundred inmates waiting for space to become available in state prisons.
