State getting not-so-tough on crime

Joe Schoenmann and Cy Ryan

Thursday, May 10, 2007 | 7:25 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Confined by Nevada's gloomy budget projections, the Legislature is poised to revise the state prison and legal systems to undo elements of the tough-on-crime legislation of 10 years ago.

The purpose is largely to avoid embarking on an expensive prison-building campaign by slowing the growth of the prison population. That would be accomplished through lighter sentences and faster paroles.

Assemblyman David Parks, D-Las Vegas, chairman of the Select Committee on Corrections, Parole and Probation, said one pending bill could make 1,000 inmates eligible for parole immediately, and make 3,800 more inmates eligible in the next five years.

Parks said lawmakers believe that the changes are needed because of the state's budget.

"I think those who are fiscal conservatives are saying, my gosh, we're spending a lot of money on prisons that we certainly could put to better use in other areas, whether it be education, health care or even roads," Parks said.

On the Senate side, Finance Committee Chairman Bill Raggio, R-Reno, spoke about the need to release some inmates early and to provide more supervision for first-time offenders.

Last month, James Austin, a nationally recognized expert on prisons, gave a presentation showing that from 1995 to 2005, Nevada's prison population increased 51 percent. The increase coincided with a series of tough-on-crime laws approved by the Legislature and with the state's steep population growth.

Over the same period, prison populations in other states increased an average of 27 percent.

Nevada's incarceration rate in 2005 stood at 500 inmates per 100,000, compared with 424 per 100,000 for the rest of the country.

Austin also showed how changes to laws in other states led to not only decreases in the number of inmates but also to lower crime rates and fewer repeat offenders.

"So it's not like we're pioneering," Parks said. "We're trying to follow some other states that have had some significantly positive results."

Parks said other proposals are to redirect some state dollars toward treatment. In April, lawmakers learned that 43 percent of Nevada's parolees reported significant drug addiction. At the same time, 29 percent of the state's inmates in March had been diagnosed with a mental health ailment.

Another bill would restrict prison time that judges sometimes tack on sentences of one to 10 years. Yet another bill would speed parole dates by six months.

Although those revisions would slow the growth of the prison population, it is not expected to eliminate the need for more prison space in the short term.

The Assembly is expected to give final approval Friday to a bill to spend $827,000 to prepare to buy four pre - engineered units to house 960 inmates. The units would be placed at the Southern Desert Prison and the Southern Nevada Women's Prison, both in Clark County, and at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center in Carson City.

The cost of the units is estimated at $29.3 million, which is in the state's construction plan. The money is to become available July 1.