KENTUCKY SEES REFORM FOR JUSTICE PROGRAMS
Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher has outlined a broad program of criminal justice reform that would include s reorganization of state police, prisons and courts and increased emphasis on drug offenses.
Kentucky also proposes eliminating the forensics backlog at the state police crime laboratories.
Lt. Gov. Steve Pence who supervises the State Police outlined the plan for the state crime laboratory in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Pence said the lab used a federal grant to hire two additional analysts and initiated a plan to reduce the number of tests. The lab would accept crime scene tests when they appeared to be adequate for the prosecution and would stop drug samples when a defendant agrees to enter a guilty plea.
Pence said the governor would reorganize the state police, corrections and juvenile justice agencies into a single public safety agency.
In a major change of direction, the governor would provide community-based treatment for drug offenders to reduce the prison population, head off the need to construct a new 1,000-bed facility and cut correctional costs.Kentucky is one of the few states with beds available, but its population of 11,900 is approaching operational capacity of 12,162. About 3,600 are serving sentences for drug offenses.
The governor estimates drug treatment would cost an average of about $5,000 for each offender compared to an average of $13,600 the state spent for minimum-security prisoners in 2003 and an average of $17,294 for all prisoners.
The administration said drug treatment is expensive, but is cheaper and more effective than prison. The prison alternative also keeps drug offenders in the workforce and can stabilize families.
Expansion of drug courts and community treatment would also allow the state to postpone the scheduled June opening of the new $90 million Elliot County prison.
The drug treatment program would be part of a comprehensive attack on Kentucky's drug program that the state hopes to begin to put into place by mid-summer.
State health officials estimate 22,000 Kentuckians underwent substance abuse treatment last year and an estimated 348,000 have a substance abuse problem. Based on the Census Bureau's 2003 estimates that would be 8 percent of Kentucky's total population of 4.1 million persons.
Copyright Washington Crime News Service Jan 30, 2004
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved
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