NCJ Number
161330
Journal
Advocate Volume: 18 Issue: 2 Dated: (March 1996) Pages: 56-60
Date Published
1996
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Incarceration data for Kentucky indicate the felon population is expected to increase by 8.9 percent each year due to an increase in admissions and a decrease in releases.
Abstract
Commitments for drug offenses represent the fastest growing offense category, increasing by 250 percent between 1988 and 1995, and drug offenders comprise 18 percent of all offenders. Sentences for most offense groups have decreased or remained stable, with the exception of drug offenders. The increase for drug offenders may be due to 1996 legislative changes in Kentucky which increased penalties for drug offenses involving a weapon. Length of time served and incarceration costs have also increased. Kentucky's Community Corrections Program awards grants to judicial districts that develop alternative sentencing programs for nonviolent offenders. In addition, the Department of Corrections initiated a pilot project in 1994 in two Kentucky counties, known as the Halfway-Back Program, that places parolees who violate parole conditions in halfway houses for 30 to 60 days depending on their behavior. The Department of Corrections has also developed treatment programs to divert the substantial drug offender population from prison and operates a 50-bed boot camp for both male and female offenders. 1 table and 4 figures