NCJ Number
153998
Date Published
1994
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This report presents the Oregon Department of Corrections Strategic Plan summary, as of January 7, 1994, based on State Senate Bill 139.
Abstract
The Oregon Strategic Plan is an effort to create a balanced corrections system coupled with effective risk-reduction strategies. The Oregon Legislature approved the plan by voting for Senate Bill 139, House Bill 2481, and Senate Bill 5505. The Strategic Plan promotes balance through a major investment in community corrections structured sanctions and services, expanded prison programs aimed at reducing risk, and strengthened transition services to enable offenders to return successfully to their communities. The Strategic Plan, incorporated in Senate Bill 139, also establishes swift and sure punishment at the local level for offenders who violate the terms of their probation. Probation and parole officers will have the tools, including short-term confinement and electronic surveillance, to show offenders the consequences of violating probation or parole. These sanctions can be imposed without going to court, thus cutting court costs and delays in punishing violators. This strategy will help reduce the number of offenders who are revoked to prison who have not been convicted of a crime. Senate Bill 139 also has a major impact on the need for additional prison beds and, in turn, the cost to operate the Oregon corrections system during the 1993-95 biennium. Without this legislation, the prison population would have reached 7,333 inmates by July 1995, compared to 6,603 with the legislation. This is a savings of nearly $90.0 million in prison operating and construction costs over the next 2 years. The text of Senate Bill 139 is included.