NCJ Number
137708
Date Published
1992
Length
95 pages
Annotation
The Arizona legislature must understand the implications of mandatory sentencing from a fiscal perspective in order to make informed decisions about possible changes to the State's criminal statutes.
Abstract
Analysis by the Arizona Department of Corrections of mandatory sentencing statutes and their implementation over the last 13 years indicates that the Arizona prison system works on a 5-year cycle in which a typical offender can expect to do 5.1 years prior to release. The longer cycle is due to mandatory sentencing; as a result, Arizona ranks high nationally in the extent of punitiveness for imprisoned felony offenders. In Arizona, the average expected percentage of sentence to be served prior to release is 74.6 percent, resulting in an average expected length of stay of 4.7 years. Nationally, inmates serve an average of 31.6 percent of their imposed sentences prior to release, resulting in a national average expected length of stay of 2 years. Twenty-nine separate statutes provide mandatory penalties of one form or another in Arizona. Excluding drunken drivers, who account for 36.2 percent of mandatory sentences, the remaining group of felons subject to mandatory sentencing statutes consists of 23.1 percent violent offenders, 16 percent sex offenders, 43.3 percent repeat offenders, 16.2 percent drug traffickers, and 1.4 percent escapees. As of June 30, 1991, 7,914 inmates in the Arizona prison system were serving mandatory sentences. The impact of mandatory sentencing on prison terms is discussed, as well as the amount of prison bedspace usage due to mandatory sentencing and the effect of mandatory sentencing on prison costs. The methodology used by the Department of Corrections, based on the Adult Inmate Management System, is described. Tables