Members of the Wisconsin Special Committee on Justice Reinvestment Oversight addressed Wednesday the large amount of money spent by the state on its corrections systems.
The group met after the Pew Research Group found one in every 109 adults in the state is in jail or prison. Wisconsin spends more than $1.08 billion on corrections annually, more than the state spends on the entire University of Wisconsin System, according to Rep. Joe Parisi, D-Madison.
As part of a presentation by the Council of State Governments, legislators and community members discussed an overview of the state’s corrections system, conducted an analysis on ways to improve community corrections and offered up suggestions on improving the state’s correction system, all of which will be discussed at the committee’s next meeting in April.
Among the concerns of the group were the increase in the number of prison admissions in the state and the increase in the return of previous offenders to prison after they have been released. According to the presentation, the percentage of prisoners who returned to jail within two years of release increased from 36 percent to 40 percent between 2000 and 2005.
The rate is especially high among female prisoners between the ages of 17 and 25.
In addition to suggestions for prison alternatives like rehabilitation programs, the group also provided a variety of recommendations for effective supervision after criminals are released from prison.
Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, challenged members of the justice system to think differently about sentencing in courts throughout Wisconsin and offered new perspectives to the judicial system.
Overall, Taylor thought the discussion went well, according to spokesperson Eric Peterson.
“They had a very constructive discussion,” Peterson said. “Although there were no specific recommendations about what to change, we can see the theme about the need for change in community corrections.”
Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon, agreed with Peterson.
“We’re 17th or 18th in the country, lowest [in terms of the number of prisoners],” Olsen said. “We’re not doing terrible compared to every other state, but in essence it’s still a whole lot of money that we’re spending.”
