NCJ Number
95477
Date Published
1983
Length
88 pages
Annotation
Through the combined actions of the Iowa General Assembly and the Iowa Board of Parole, a prison overcrowding crisis of major proportions has been avoided.
Abstract
In early 1981, the General Assembly passed a bill setting a cap on the prison population and called on the parole board to increase the parole rate without further endangering the public. The parole board responded in dramatic fashion by increasing paroles by over 50 percent, and a serious overcrowding situation was avoided. The 50-percent increase in paroles was achieved with no significant increase in threat to society. In fact, with a reduction in the percentage of parole grants to violent offenders and improvement in screening of potentially dangerous offenders, the rate of new violence among parolees has dropped by 35 percent. While violence among parolees is perceived to be a serious problem, the statistical evidence does not support the validity of this belief. The potentially violent criminal can be identified with a high degree of accuracy. Furthermore, an analysis of 559 offenders committed to Iowa prisons during 1981 suggests that 15-20 percent of committed prisoners could be safely placed in community corrections programs without compromising justice system goals and principles. Appendixes include parolee case histories, scoring systems for new charges, and risk assessment forms. Tabular data and footnotes are provided.