Final Prison Bill Appeasing Prosecutors’ Concerns

In the end, it looks like Gov. Mike Beebe will get his man – or men, we should say.

After weeks of high-profile resistance from prosecutors regarding his prison reform bill, Beebe said in a press conference today that he was "cautiously optimistic" that prosecutors would endorse his bill.

And it appears they will.

Citing "active negotiations" between prosecutors and the Governor,  Henry Boyce, Prosecutor for the 3rd Judicial District and President of the Arkansas Prosecuting Attorneys Association (APAA), said that he expected his group to support the reform measure in the near future.

"Although many issues were resolved, until we receive the final version of the bill and have the chance to confirm its content we have not endorsed the legislation," said Boyce. "We are optimistic that once the agreed upon changes are incorporated, the APAA will then be able to endorse this bill."

Beebe met with several of the state’s prosecuting attorneys early Tuesday and addressed concerns surrounding reduced penalties for violent crimes and lighter sentencing for certain meth users. He credited the prosecutors for raising attention to the areas.

Beebe hopes the 160+ page bill will be filed later this afternoon. It attempts to reform prison sentences to steer future non-violent offenders to alternative terms and free up critical bed space for more violent offenders.

Approximately 8,900 of the state’s current prison population of 16,200 are incarcerated for non-violent crimes. That means about 7,300 are being held for violent offenses such as murder, rape, kidnapping and other charges.

A January Pew Center report indicated that Arkansas could be facing $875 million in rising prison costs during the next decade if current trends aren’t changed. The Governor reemphasized that passage of the bill would only slow the growth, not reverse prison spending.

Beebe argued that his only choices were to pursue the sentencing reforms, build more prisons, or do nothing and risk federal court intervention.

A Talk Business-Hendrix College Poll conducted on Monday, Feb. 28, shows widespread support for the concept of prison reform. Of 659 respondents, 56% said they supported altering sentencing for drug users, while 26% wanted to build more prisons. Roughly 18% had no opinion.

In his press conference, Beebe said that he also wanted to steer about $9 million into improving the state’s parole and probation system to allow for more alternative sentencing and community punishment for lower level offenders.

Drug courts and high-tech ankle monitoring will be cornerstones for dealing with some of the non-violent offenders, as we’ve previously reported.

Jason Tolbert with our content partner, The Tolbert Report, has video of the Governor’s press conference today.