NCJ Number
173553
Date Published
1996
Length
75 pages
Annotation
This annual statistical report for fiscal year 1995 (July 1, 1995 - June 30, 1996) provides information about offenders under the jurisdiction of the Colorado Department of Corrections.
Abstract
Offenders incarcerated in secure facilities, placed in community corrections programs, and supervised on parole are profiled in this report. An entire section has been added to report the characteristics of juvenile offenders sentenced as adults to the new Youthful Offender System. Sentencing trends, technical prison returns, and lengths of stay for releases are a few of the topics that have been enhanced in this report. The initial treatment-need levels for admissions to prison are reported for the first time in the areas of mental health, medical, sex offenders, and drug and alcohol abuse. The total population under the jurisdiction of the Colorado Department of Corrections exceeded 13,000 offenders during 1995. The average inmate population for fiscal year 1995 was 10,562, and the parole population averaged 2,528, including parolees out of State. One table shows the unprecedented growth of 297 percent in the inmate population since 1980, when the population was 2,658. Several key pieces of legislation have impacted the prison population during this time period; H.B. 1589, passed in 1979, changed sentences from indeterminate to determinate terms and made parole mandatory at one-half the sentence. In 1981 H.B. 1156 became law, requiring courts to sentence offenders above the maximum of the presumptive range for "crimes of violence" as well as those offenders with aggravating circumstances. The most dramatic legislative change was made in 1985 with the passage of H.B. 1320. This legislation doubled the maximum penalties of the presumptive ranges for all felony classes. Since that time, other legislative measures have revised sentencing provisions to reduce the presumptive ranges for certain class three through six nonviolent crimes and added a split sentence that mandates a period of parole for all crimes following the prison sentence. 52 tables