Beebe close on prison reform deal; Poll shows support for changes

Editor’s note: Roby Brock, with our content partner Talk Business, wrote this report. He can be reached at [email protected]

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 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 (Mar. 1) 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-plus page bill will be filed later this afternoon (Mar. 1). 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.

PEW REPORT
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.

PRISON POLL
A Talk Business-Hendrix College Poll conducted 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.

The poll asked: “Due to prison population problems, Arkansas is considering changing its drug laws to place heavier penalties on those involved with the drug trade, lesser penalties on those who only use or possess drugs, and provide treatment to low-level drug offenders. An alternative is to build more prisons. What do you think lawmakers should do?”

The responses were:
56% — alter penalties to free up prison space
26% — build more prisons
18% — don’t know

This poll was conducted by Talk Business Research and Hendrix College. The poll, which has a margin of error of +/- 3.8%, was completed using IVR survey technology on Monday, February 28, 2011 among 659 registered Arkansas voters statewide.

BROAD SUPPORT
Dr. Jay Barth, with the Hendrix College Department of Politics and International Relations, said the poll shows support for the efforts to overhaul the corrections system in the state, especially related to drug offenses, is broad and deep.

“Majorities of Arkansans favor efforts to move away from incarceration toward treatment across most groups of voters. There is little variance across age groups or gender, with healthy majorities of all groups favoring the proposals emanating out of the task force’s work,” Barth noted.

Among partisan groups, strong majorities of Democrats (56%) and Independents (60%) favor the proposal. But, the proposal has support even among Republican voters, with just at 50% favoring the initiative. Support is also strong across racial/ethnic groups. While other groups all show majority support, African-Americans surveyed were interestingly most tepid towards the proposal with 48% of that group voicing support.

In his press conference, Beebe said 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. Drafts and revisions of a comprehensive prison and sentencing reform measure have been circulating the halls of the state capitol for weeks, but the basic concept behind the overhaul may have solidified in voters’ minds already.