Only 1 in 46 adults in corrections system in Virginia, study shows
By: Scott McCabe
Examiner Staff Writer
March 3, 2009
Virginia ranked in the top fifth nationally and first in the Washington region with only 1 in 46 adults behind bars, on parole or probation, a new study shows.
In Maryland, 1 in 27 adults is under correctional control, ranking the state 11th nationally, according to the report issued Monday by the Pew Center on the States.
In the District, one in 21 adult residents is locked up or in the corrections system, the report said. Ranked against the states, D.C. had the highest percentage of citizens in lockup, with 1 in 50.
Nationwide, the total population of the U.S. corrections system exceeds 7.3 million — one in every 31 U.S. adults, the report said.
The report says the budget crises offered states an opportunity to change corrections policies to rely less on the more expensive prisons and jails.
The cost to the commonwealth last year was $1.25 billion, or 7.6 percent of Virginia’s general fund spending. The study comes days after Virginia lawmakers rejected Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s proposal to let the Department of Corrections release nonviolent inmates 90 days early as a way to save money.
The Pew report lauded Virginia for a risk assessment instrument used for felony theft, fraud and drug offenders who would otherwise be sent to prison under the state’s sentencing guidelines. Defendants whose scores are low, based on elements of the crimes and the individual characteristics, are steered away from prison.
In 2008, more than 1,400 of these offenders were sentenced to community corrections instead of prison. A separate assessment for sex offenders is used to find the highest-risk cases and double or triple their terms behind bars.
Maryland spent about $688 million on total correctional costs in 2008, or 8.2 percent of its general fund money in fiscal 2008. That compares with about $206 million in 1988.
In 2008, it cost $86 to confine an offender in Maryland per day, compared with $45 in 1988.
Correctional spending numbers for the D.C. were not included in the study.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
