NCJ Number
99182
Date Published
1983
Length
44 pages
Annotation
This report of the Alaska Governor's Task Force on Corrections presents findings and recommendations pertaining to prison overcrowding, organization, staffing, interagency cooperation, municipal correctional responsibilities, and alternatives to institutionalization.
Abstract
Regarding prison overcrowding, recommendations focus on the use of specific institutions and the giving of high priority to correctional construction among all units of State government. Recommendations for correctional organization emphasize decentralization by region, the implementation of a revised classification system in concert with correctional reorganization, and the management of all jail contracts by the Department of Corrections. Other organization recommendations are the upgrading of the Division of Corrections to departmental status and the immediate appointment of a Commissioner of Corrections. A principle recommendation to facilitate interagency cooperation is the establishment of a cabinet-level body to coordinate criminal justice policy. Recommendations pertaining to municipal correctional responsibilities focus on State-local cooperation in addressing pretrial detention, drunk driving, and offender drug treatment programs. The major recommendations for juvenile corrections is the establishment of a separate juvenile corrections division within the Department of Corrections. Remaining recommendations address rehabilitation and alternatives to institutionalization.