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Utah could see a drop in its recidivism rate by reducing some drug crimes to misdemeanors, putting a cap on the time an offender must spend behind bars for technical parole violations and increasing community treatment options for substance abusers and sex offenders, according to a group studying the issue.
Those steps to keep ex-convicts from landing back behind bars would, in turn, avert a projected jump in the state's prison population, said Ron Gordon, executive director of the Utah Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice.
The commission is partnering with Pew Charitable Trusts to study how to increase public safety by reducing recidivism. Gordon on Wednesday updated members of the Utah Legislature's Judiciary Interim Committee on recommendations made by three commission subcommittees to achieve that goal.
The commission will decide which recommendations to adopt and present a final report in November to the Judiciary Interim Committee and the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee.
Gordon said the recommendations will be accompanied by a request for millions of dollars. But, he said, those recommendations would lead to significant savings by helping offenders transition back into society, and by using prison space for violent criminals rather than nonviolent offenders.
According to data collected by Pew Charitable Trusts, the Utah prison population is rising, with the highest drivers being nonviolent criminals and sex offenders. Of the sex offenders, most had no prior convictions.
Also adding to the population are parole violators, most of them there for a technical violation, such as missing curfew, rather than the commission of a new crime, according to Gordon.
He said the state prison population of about 7,000 is projected to climb to 9,700 in the next 20 years, but implementation of all the subcommittee's recommendations would mean an increase of just a few hundred inmates.
Twitter: @PamelaMansonSLC