NCJ Number
143147
Date Published
1992
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This report examines the sentence length and time served for offenders sentenced to prison in Texas in fiscal year 1991 and includes comparisons with 1985.
Abstract
The data reveal that the number of offenders admitted to prison in Texas has almost doubled since 1985, from 25,635 to 44,593, mostly due to the fourfold increase in the sentencing of drug offenders. During the period studied the median prison sentence increased by 20 percent, from 5 years in 1985 to 6 years in 1991. The median time served by State offenders released from State custody has decreased by 27 percent during the same period. For every year of sentence, violent offenders served a median of 95 days, property offenders served 44 days, and drug offenders served 40 days under State custody. Only aggravated violent offenders have experienced an increase in both median sentence and time served during this period. Crowding neutralizes the effect of any change in incarceration and sentencing patterns in Texas. Increasing the time served in prison can occur only if balanced by a significant increase in community corrections diversions for offenders currently sentenced to prison or by a significant increase in prison capacity. The implementation of rehabilitation and drug treatment programs to reduce recidivism should also be considered as a critical long-term policy to reduce incarceration.