[Colorado] Parole Board Backlog Costing Taxpayers Millions

Fuhgetaboutit Joey, Newsletter

Parole Board Backlog Costing Taxpayers Millions

By Michael J. McCarthy

Colorado's county jails are backlogged 4-5 months with sentenced prisoners waiting to enter state prisons.

The economic toll this places on jails, courts, and inevitably the taxpayer is daunting. Overcrowding poses safety concerns for both prisoners and correctional staff alike. City councils have to discuss raising millions for new jail construction, etc...

And here is the clincher: An increase in crime isn't causing the backlog, the Colorado Board of Parole is. The backlog is induced by not paroling, program compliant, nonviolent offenders that are past their parole eligibility dates.

Statewide discretionary paroles are down 23%. Laws created to release prisoners that pose minimum risk to society, SB11-241 and HB11-1064, have been ignored.

SB11-241 mandates a "strong presumption of parole" of nonviolent immigrant prisoners to their ICE detainers. HB11-1064 recommends a "presumption of parole" for certain nonviolent drug offenders.

Bear in mind, the cost of parole, per inmate, per year is roughly $5000; the cost of prison, per inmate, per year is $37,500.

In other words, every 1000 prisoners we place on parole, community corrections, or in treatment centers; versus prisons; saves $30 million a year.

Presently, the Colorado Board of Parole has over 3000 nonviolent prisoners past their parole eligibility dates, still in prison. Paroling these men and women would save taxpayers $90 million a year, and rid Colorado of dependency on private prison contracts.

Ninety-five percent of all prisoners are eventually released, so there is no increased risk to public safety.

Nationally, there is bipartisan support to reduce prison populations: New Jersey, Ohio, Texas, and Utah all dropped their prison populations 10-20% and realized no increase in crime. Ex-governor Rick Perry saved over $1 billion by closing prisons -- and 

Why would the Parole Board bog down the system?

One reason might be they don't have enough parole officers to handle an influx of 3000 more parolees. The state would have to hire 40 more parole officers, which is an easy remedy. Hiring more parole officers is more cost effective than keeping prisoners locked-up -- $2 million versus $90 million.

While Colorado legislators continually search for money for schools and roads -- $90 m. could improve a lot of infrastructure.

Another possible reason for clogging-up the system is job security. Most states don't have parole boards for nonviolent offenders -- they are automatically paroled when they reach their parole eligibility dates. Colorado's seven parole board members have 6-figure salaries. A revamped parole board would only require two members to conduct hearings on non-compliant violent offenders and sex offenders only. This would save $½ million a year in salaries.

Nobody is suggesting a free ride for criminals. However, prisoners shouldn't have to serve more time than necessary, due to bad planning or politics.

The larger we make our prison system, the more a regular sample of society lands behind bars. I see it in prison every day. Over-incarcerating folks isn't the answer.

Michael J. McCarthy is a prisoner at Buena Vista Minimum Center.
Contact at: DOC#106515, BVMC, P.O. Box 2005, Buena Vista, Co. 81211

------Comment: Jason Pecci (blogspot.com/jasonpecci)
Fuhgetaboutit Joey is a dig at parole board head Joe Morales, as in, "Forget about the millions I'm costing you...Mind yuh own business." But, it is of course exactly the Colorado citizens' business that parole board and CDOC hold people beyond legal intentions, to taxpayer detriment.