NCJ Number
111543
Date Published
1986
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This study compares inmates convicted as persistent felony offenders (PFO's) and the rest of the inmate population in Kentucky.
Abstract
The analysis used data on all 1,261 incarcerated PFO's and on a 10-percent random sample containing 356 other incarcerated felons. The comparison group was divided into 125 first offenders and 231 repeat offenders. The PFO's were repeat offenders who had been convicted of a felony and who received enhanced sentences because of their prior records. Those in the first degree (PFO I) had at least three adult felony convictions; those in the second degree (PFO II), at least two adult felony convictions. First offenders were most likely to have had a conviction for violent crime, while both PFO's and repeat offenders were most likely to have burglary, robbery, and theft as their most serious current charge at conviction. Although both groups were most likely to have been incarcerated for property crimes, PFO's received sentences that were at least 40 percent longer than repeat offenders. In fact, the PFO sentences were comparable to those given to the first offender group. All three types of convicted felons had adult criminal careers that began at an early age. Both the PFO's and the repeat offenders had careers that were either exclusively or predominantly nonviolent; however, the majority of both PFO's and repeat offenders had been convicted of at least one violent crime. The main distinction between the PFO and repeat offender groups is the length of sentence, indicating that the PFO statute is not being consistently applied to all offenders. Tables and addresses from which to obtain the seriousness index and the data collection form.