NCJ Number
153716
Date Published
1990
Length
31 pages
Annotation
Minnesota's sentencing options, including prisons, jails, probation, restitution, and community service, are overloading the State's criminal justice system.
Abstract
A contributing factor to jail overcrowding is the number of inmates who are incarcerated for pretrial detention and the length of their pretrial stays. Minnesota counties that have a jail overcrowding problem appear to have a probation overcrowding problem as well. In 1988, one-third of jail space statewide was used for presentence detention. The remaining two-thirds of jail space was used by sentenced offenders who were serving a sentence or were in a work release program. Of sentenced offenders, one- third of jail space was used by driving while intoxicated offenders. Proposed legislation will require that Minnesota's Sentencing Guidelines Commission work with other correctional entities to collect information and help the legislature deal with the overcrowding problem. Data are provided on prison population trends, jail usage, and jail and sentencing alternatives. Measures taken to address the overcrowding problem are examined, including legislative initiatives, data collection on local correctional resources, nonimprisonment guidelines, expediting the criminal court process, and local alternatives to incarceration. Studies are projected to explore nonimprisonment sanctions and weapon use, and legislation will be proposed to define and establish standards for intermediate sanctions. An appendix contains additional data on jail usage in Minnesota. 13 displays and 12 graphs