Gov. Kay Ivey today endorsed five bills and several other initiatives aimed at addressing Alabama’s prison crisis and inequities and weaknesses in the criminal justice system.
Ivey said the proposals are based on recommendations of the Governor’s Study Group on Criminal Justice Policy, which issued a report saying that a commitment to prisoner rehabilitation was the long-term solution to the prison crisis. The group also said the need to make the prisons safer was urgent. The report is attached to the end of this article.
Ivey appointed the group after the Department of Justice alleged after an investigation that conditions in the state’s crowded, understaffed, and violent prisons violate the Constitution.
“I tasked the Criminal Justice Study Group with the mission of finding data-driven solutions to our longstanding challenges in our prison system,” Ivey said in a press release today. “I’m not only proud of their efforts, but I’m pleased there were solid recommendations, which came as a result of their hard work. Through these legislative items, we can build upon steps my administration has already begun taking to improve our criminal justice system.”
The bills are:
- HB 329 by Rep. Jim Hill, R-Moody, which would make retroactive sentencing guidelines for nonviolent crimes that took effect in October 2013. Nonviolent offenders sentenced before the guidelines who received lengthy sentences, including life sentences, will be eligible for new sentences if they have had good conduct in prison.
- SB 226 by Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, will establish a commissioner of rehabilitation in the Alabama Department of Corrections and the Bureau of Pardons and Paroles. The stated purpose is to refocus the agencies on reducing recidivism while promoting public safety.
- SB 244 by Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, will require all inmates nearing the end of their sentences to go under mandatory, pre-release supervision to help them successfully re-enter society. A law passed in 2015 already required that for inmates sentenced after that. The bill would make the requirement retroactive to cover those sentenced before 2015.
- HB 323 by Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, would require the ADOC to report more information to the Legislature’s prison oversight committee and revise the oath of office taken by correctional officers to reflect a new focus on rehabilitation.
- HB 342 by Rep. Connie Rowe, R-Jasper, would require the ADOC and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to work together to help inmates obtain a Social Security card, birth certificate, and non-driving photo ID before release from prison to help overcome one of the barriers for former inmates joining the workforce, the lack of a viable form of government-issued ID.
Ivey is also supporting a resolution sponsored by Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, that would set up a group to examine pre-trial and diversionary programs in an effort to make them uniform and more accessible. The study group, which would include legislators, members of the Alabama Sentencing Commission, district attorneys, judges, and others, will also study best practices for diversion programs.
In addition, the governor is supporting:
- A $4.2 million increase in funding for prison education.
- A $1.8 million increase in funding for Stepping Up, a national initiative to reduce the number of mentally ill people in jail. The goal is to implement Stepping Up in every Alabama county by fiscal year 2022.
- An increase in the ADOC budget to add 104 mental health professionals in the prison system and increase the number of correctional officers toward a court order of adding about 2,000 officers over the next two years.
- Providing people on parole more access to their parole officers. The study group recommended night and weekend hours for parole officers to help parolees who hold jobs during normal business hours that conflict with appointments with their parole officers.
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