Resolution in Support of Post-Release Supervision of Offenders

Resolution in Support of Post-Release Supervision of Offenders

Resolution in Support of Post-Release Supervision of Offenders

Summary

This resolution supports efforts to require appropriate inmates to serve the final portion of their sentences on post-release supervision and tailoring this supervision to the offender’s risk and needs level. Inmates released without supervision have higher recidivism rates, leading to more crime, more victims, more incarceration, and more costs for taxpayers. This resolution supports moving away from the practice of discharging inmates without supervision and tailoring supervision conditions to the risks and needs of the offender.

Model Resolution

PURPOSE: To support policy that ensures suitable inmates are released to serve a period of post-release supervision as part of their sentence.

WHEREAS, more than one in five prison inmates max out their sentences and are released without any modicum of supervision; and

WHEREAS, the scientific and evaluation literature strongly suggest that a period of post-release supervision, which typically includes such practices as regular reporting, electronic monitoring, drug testing, treatment referral if needed, and job placement, leads to better public safety outcomes;

WHEREAS, studies have shown that offenders released with no supervision are 14 percent more likely to be rearrested, 17 percent more likely to be reconvicted, and 16 percent more likely to return to prison compared to similar offenders supervised for a period upon release [i]; and

WHEREAS, when mentally ill inmates are discharged without supervision, there is no leverage to ensure they are complying with treatment and high levels of recidivism are associated with an abrupt shift from being on medications in prison to then going untreated, but compliance with a treatment regimen can be incorporated into the supervision plan;

WHEREAS, studies show that releasing inmates to a period of post-release supervision as part of their sentence reduces recidivism in these inmates and saves taxpayer dollars.

WHEREAS, actuarial risks and needs assessments have been shown to be effective tools in determining the most appropriate level of supervision;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that [insert state] supports policy that would:

  1. Shift away from the practice of releasing one-fifth of inmates without supervision and instead require a period of post-release supervision before the typical inmate fully discharges their sentence.
  2. Tailor supervision conditions to the risks and needs of the offender.
  3. Consider relevant factors that may include the nature of the offense, risk level, and completion of in-prison treatment, vocational, and educational programs in determining the appropriate balance of the prison term and the post-release supervision term in individual cases.
  4. Whenever possible, public-private partnerships should be engaged to facilitate the goals of this Resolution, consistent with the values of [insert state here.]

 


 

[i] The Pew Charitable Trusts, “The Impact of Parole in New Jersey” (November 2013), http://www.pewstates.org/uploadedFiles/PCS_Assets/2013/PSPP_NJParole-Brief.pdf.

 

Approved by the ALEC Board of Directors on October 11, 2014.

Re-Approved By the ALEC Board of Directors: September 3, 2019