Issues in Criminal Justice (JF)
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Under Dallas County’s alternative sentencing plan, certain low-level offenders discharge their sentences under ankle-monitored house arrest, giving them the opportunity to keep their jobs, eat home-cooked meals and enjoy the interaction of family and friends, according to an article in the Dallas Morning News.
Even more important, alternative sentencing is helping the county’s bottom line. Since its inception Sept. 1, it has saved the county $366,016. Officials expect that figure to reach $400,000 by the initiative’s first anniversary in two weeks. That’s double the $200,000 budgeted by county commissioners last year to launch the program, which they approved after observing a similar program in Brazos County.
Designed to replace the old work-release program that allowed offenders to work during the day and then return to jail on nights and weekends, alternative sentencing is used for criminals with offenses ranging from misdemeanors such as hot-check writing, low-level theft and DWIs to state jail felonies that have been reduced to misdemeanors.
Participants earn the same jail time as if they were incarcerated, including good time gains and back time. County officials say they are pleased with the progress of the program, which they say has saved the county 6,536 jail-bed days at a rate of $56 per bed per day.
“These folks were deemed a small enough threat during the day” under the old work-release system if closely monitored, so the alternative sentencing uses the same basic guidelines, said Ron Stretcher, director of criminal justice for Dallas County. “The vast majority of them complete the program,” he added.
Of the 281 closed alternative sentencing cases, 273 offenders have successfully completed their time, giving the program a success rate of 97 percent.
But alternative sentencing is not without critics. Kevin Brooks, chief of the felony trial bureau for the district attorney’s office, said, “There are real concerns” with the program and that the DA’s office does not support it. He said it does not help public safety and that participating offenders are “not being punished for the offense they’re convicted of.”
However, clients, as the offenders are called, who don’t follow the rules may be reprimanded in court or sent back behind bars.
Lynn Richardson, Dallas County chief public defender, described alternative sentencing as incredible. “The fact that it’s working is encouraging; that’s why we continue to explore that as an option,” she said.
To read the article, click here.
For more information about smarter ways to monitor offenders, see Justice Fellowship’s Probation and Parole and Sentencing Reform resource pages. |
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