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One-third of inmates will be back in prison
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WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Virginia has one of the lowest rates of recidivism in the nation, but state officials must reduce that figure further, according to a state study released this week.
Of the 12,811 inmates the Department of Corrections released this year, 29 percent will return to prison within three years, said Barry Green, the state's interim deputy secretary of public safety.
The national average is 50 percent.
Green, who briefed the State Crime Commission on the data Thursday, said Virginia has the lowest recidivism rate among the 30 states that measure the statistic.
However, the state could save millions of dollars by lowering the figure further by improving treatment services for offenders, which would cost less than building the new prisons that will be required to house the increasing number of inmates.
A growing state population and prison sentences that have increased significantly due to the state's abolition of parole are expected to add another 1,000 inmates annually to Virginia prisons over the next five years.
That will force the state to build five new prisons, with each new detention facility expected to cost $100 million to construct and $20 million in annual operating costs.
The state has about 33,000 inmates, according to the Department of Corrections.
The looming prison-building boom has lawmakers scrambling for ways to reduce the inmate population without jeopardizing public safety.
"We're not going to go back to parole, but we will take a look at ways to keep offenders from coming back to prison," said Del. David Albo, R-Springfield.
Members of the House Appropriations Committee last month broached the idea of shortening the amount of time offenders spend on probation or reducing the number of the probation violations that send criminals back to prison, but such a proposal likely will face stiff opposition from tough-on-crime lawmakers.
"We understand the budgetary reality," said J. Tucker Martin, a spokesman for Virginia Attorney General Robert McDonnell. "However, probation terms are an important part of a convicted criminal's sentence; it is part of the punishment for the crime committed."
