S254 1R Fiscal Note

Senate Bill No. 254 (1R) of 1996 would eliminate good time and work credits awarded to State sentenced prison inmates while incarcerated. In addition, the bill provides that time could be added to the eligibility date of an inmate who violates prison rules or who does not diligently complete work assignments. Time also could be added to the parole eligibility date of an inmate who does not fully cooperate or participate in any counseling, education or treatment program to which the inmate is assigned. The bill also shifts the burden of demonstrating parole readiness from the Parole Board to the inmate, and allows subsequent parole denials to be based on reasons cited in previous hearings.

The Department of Corrections states that the provision requiring inmates to serve a full one-third sentence without good time credits would result in increased length-of-stay (LOS) for those inmates without mandatory minimum terms or for those having a minimum sentence where it is less than one-third of the total term. Also, under the bill, inmates who violate prison rules or fail to cooperate in other ways may have time added to their parole eligibility date, compounding the impact in terms of LOS.

The department notes that about 70 percent of the department's 12,000 annual admissions, or 8,400 inmates would be affected by this bill. On an average five-year term, parole eligibility would increase from the current 15 months to 20 months, an increase of five months per inmate.

The department states that because all inmates are required to serve a minimum of nine months prior to release or parole eligibility, the impact of this bill would not begin to be felt until month 10 following enactment. Also, because most inmates would receive terms of 20 years or less, the primary impact of the bill is projected to be achieved within 6.6 years. Therefore, over the six-year period, the inmate population would increase by 3,500 inmates. (8,400 inmates X 5 months/12 = 3,500 inmates) This constitutes an average of 55 additional inmates per month.

Below is a chart illustrating the incremental and total costs of implementing the bill by year.

			Capital	Monthly Addl	Annual Addl
	Months	Additional	Costs Per	Operating	Operating
Year	1-72	Inmates	New Bed	Costs	Costs
			@ $80,000	@ $26,000

YEAR 1	1-9	0	0	0	0
	10	55	4,400,000	119,167
	11	110	4,400,000	238,333
	12	165	4,400,000	357,500	715,000
YEAR 2	13	220	4,400,000	476,667
	14	275	4,400,000	595,833
	15	330	4,400,000	715,000
	16	385	4,400,000	834,167
	17	440	4,400,000	953,333
	18	495	4,400,000	1,072,500
	19	550	4,400,000	1,191,667
	20	605	4,400,000	1,310,833
	21	660	4,400,000	1,430,000
	22	715	4,400,000	1,549,167
	23	770	4,400,000	1,668,333
	24	825	4,400,000	1,787,500	13,585,000
YEAR 3	25	880	4,400,000	1,906,667
	26	935	4,400,000	2,025,833
	27	990	4,400,000	2,145,000
	28	1,045	4,400,000	2,264,167
	29	1,100	4,400,000	2,383,333
	30	1,155	4,400,000	2,502,500
	31	1,210	4,400,000	2,621,667
	32	1,265	4,400,000	2,740,833
	33	1,320	4,400,000	2,860,000
	34	1,375	4,400,000	2,979,167
	35	1,430	4,400,000	3,098,333
	36	1,500	5,600,000	3,250,000	30,777,500
YEAR 4	37	1,570	5,600,000	3,401,667
	38	1,630	4,800,000	3,531,667
	39	1,685	4,400,000	3,650,833
	40	1,740	4,400,000	3,770,000
	41	1,795	4,400,000	3,889,167
	42	1,850	4,400,000	4,008,333
	43	1,905	4,400,000	4,127,500
	44	1,960	4,400,000	4,246,667
	45	2,015	4,400,000	4,365,833
	46	2,040	2,000,000	4,485,000
	47	2,125	6,800,000	4,604,167
	48	2,180	4,400,000	4,723,333	48,804,167
YEAR 5	49	2,235	4,400,000	4,842,500
	50	2,290	4,400,000	4,961,667
	51	2,345	4,400,000	5,080,833
	52	2,400	4,400,000	5,200,000
	53	2,455	4,400,000	5,319,167
			Capital	Monthly Addl	Annual Addl
	Months	Additional	Costs Per	Operating	Operating
Year	1-72	Inmates	New Bed	Costs	Costs
			@ $80,000	@ $26,000

	54	2,510	4,400,000	5,438,333
	55	2,565	4,400,000	5,557,500
	56	2,620	4,400,000	5,676,667
	57	2,675	4,400,000	5,795,833
	58	2,730	4,400,000	5,915,000
	59	2,785	4,400,000	6,034,167
	60	2,840	4,400,000	6,153,333	65,975,000
YEAR 6	61	2,895	4,400,000	6,272,500
	62	2,950	4,400,000	6,391,667
	63	3,005	4,400,000	6,510,833
	64	3,060	4,400,000	6,630,000
	65	3,115	4,400,000	6,749,167
	66	3,170	4,400,000	6,868,333
	67	3,225	4,400,000	6,987,500
	68	3,280	4,400,000	7,106,667
	69	3,335	4,400,000	7,225,833
	70	3,390	4,400,000	7,345,000
	71	3,445	4,400,000	7,464,167
	72	3,500	4,400,000	7,583,333	83,135,000
TOTAL		3,500	$280,000,000		$91,000,000

Operating costs begin to accrue in the 10th month after enactment and increase monthly over a six-year period. At the end of year six, the population will have increased by 3,500 inmates at an annual cost of $91,000,000. Capital costs would total $280,000,000 over the six-year period.

The department states that the other changes proposed the bill, which would shift the burden of demonstrating parole-readiness from the Parole Board to the inmate and allow information from previous parole hearings to be used in subsequent parole hearings, would also increase length of stay by increasing the number of inmates denied release. However, there is no way to determine the number of inmates who would be affected, or the extent of the increase in length of stay.

The Office of Legislative Services concurs, but notes that ultimately the bill would yield a reduction in the number of offenders assigned to parole supervision caseloads because these offenders would be serving their time in prison rather than on parole. The timing of this anticipated reduction of caseload and how it would affect the additional institutional operating costs cannot be currently determined. However, assuming that the current parole requirements remain as they are, the savings in parole supervision would be about $1,250 per inmate per year.