NCJ Number
99233
Date Published
1985
Length
51 pages
Annotation
This report presents an indepth analysis of Delaware's future costs for the existing inmate population serving life sentences after January 1, 1985, as well as the costs for lifers through December 31, 1994.
Abstract
The cost for the existing Delaware lifer population is computed over the time required for the population to reach zero. This occurs when all of the existing lifer population is either paroled or reaches the age of life expectancy (age 73). Parole is calculated at 100 percent distributed over eight hearings held at the rate of one per year. This approximates the actual practice over the past 15 years. The study projects the population size of lifers who will begin their sentences between January 1, 1985, and December 31, 1994, and then computes the cost of this population until it reaches zero. The study provides 80 scenarios of life expectancy, parole rates, and inflation rates, taking into account the requirements of mandatory life sentences and parole provisions of Delaware's criminal code. Prison costs are projected from a base of $17,000 annually per lifer, a figure currently under study. The study projects that the remaining costs for maintaining the existing lifer population (234 inmates) will be $159,741,140. The cost for the lifer population admitted between January 1, 1984, and December 31, 1994, (288 inmates) is projected to be $363,548,627, assuming the current parole, life expectancy, and inflation conditions. Tabular data are provided.