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Ana Yáñez -Correa, Ph.D. Executive Director, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition. Jim Bethke Executive Director, Texas Indigent Defense Commission. Criminal Justice 2012: Containing the Costs . Today’s Objectives. What are the State / County Criminal Justice Costs?
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Ana Yáñez-Correa, Ph.D. Executive Director, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition Jim BethkeExecutive Director, Texas Indigent Defense Commission
Criminal Justice 2012: Containing the Costs Shared Solutions 2012
Today’s Objectives • What are the State / County Criminal Justice Costs? • What’s Working & How Do We Know? • What Can You Do to Control Costs And Ensure An Effective Justice System? Shared Solutions 2012
The State Budgetby the percentages Shared Solutions 2012
Each Year Texas Spends. . . Prisons - $3 billionPolice- $1.4 billion Courts - $321.5 million Prosecution -$42 million Indigent Defense - $30 million Shared Solutions 2012
Texas Incarceration About 155,000 inmates per day: 140,000 in prisons 3,000 in SAFPF 12,000 in state jails 49% nonviolent offenders Shared Solutions 2012
At What Cost? $50.79 per person per day $7.3 million total per day $2.7 billion total per year Nonviolent Offenders: $1.3 billion total per year Shared Solutions 2012
Texas Parole About 81,000 parolees per day 78% nonviolent offenders Shared Solutions 2012
State Parole Costs $3.74 per person per day $100 million total per year Nonviolent Offenders: $86 million total per year Shared Solutions 2012
Texas Probation (CJAD) About 420,000 probationers per day 89% nonviolent offenders Shared Solutions 2012
State Probation Costs $1.30 per person per day $200 million total per year Nonviolent Offenders: $178 million total per year Shared Solutions 2012
Returning to our Communities About 72,000 people are released from prison each year in Texas. 99% of those currently in prison will be released eventually. TDCJ has a 25% recidivism rate. Shared Solutions 2012
In Summary / Daily Cost Per Person Shared Solutions 2012
Annual Cost Per Person 1 Prisoner 2 University of Texas at Austin Students = Shared Solutions 2012
Cost-Saving Strategies at State • Refuse to pass unfunded mandates. • Invest in re-entry programs. • Shift dollars from incarceration of non-violent offenders to more effective alternatives – using Evidence-Based Practices (EBP). Shared Solutions 2012
Statewide Collaboration Efforts • Criminal Justice Advisory Council • Criminal Justice Integrity Unit • Timothy Cole Advisory Panel Shared Solutions 2012
Result = Better Laws 82ndLegislature Passes: HB 215 Eyewitness ID Procedures Shared Solutions 2012
What happens if you don’t work together? • $42 million in statutory compensation • 74 people spent over 700 years behind bars • Public-at-Risk Shared Solutions 2012
Harris CountyPopulation 4,092,459 Shared Solutions 2012
Harris County:Larger Population than 24 States 4,092,459 Harris County Population Shared Solutions 2012
Harris County Budget FY 2009-2010: $1,485,686,875 Shared Solutions 2012
6% compared to 52% Harris County Budget State Budget Shared Solutions 2012
. Shared Solutions 2012
Direct Filing of Criminal Cases: Closing the Paper Trap Harris/El Paso/San Antonio 2006 Study
Purpose of this Study: • Provide practical evidence-based guidance for jurisdictions to follow in implementing criminal justice processes that are fair, accurate, timely, efficient, and effective. • Caveat: • There should never be a rush to judgment. Processes should ensure that defense counsel and prosecutors alike have ample opportunity to develop their cases.
Cases Screened and Released at the time of arrest
I. Cases Screened and Released at Arrest COUNTY savings: $663 / defendant PERSONAL savings: $549 / defendant El Paso-DIMS Cases Rejected Prior to Booking DIMS • 19% of El Paso’s DIMS cases were reviewed and rejected for prosecution at the scene of offense. Harris County estimates a minimum 10% case rejection rate prior to booking.
Lubbock CountyPopulation 278,831 Shared Solutions 2012
Lubbock County ExpensesFY2010: $86,462,040 7% ($3.8 million) Indigent Defense 65% ($56,603,641) Total spent on Administration of Justice Shared Solutions 2012
6%compared to 65% Lubbock County Budget State Budget Shared Solutions 2012
Lubbock County:Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases Source: Youtube.com, “Lubbock County ‘09 Best Practices Award Video for Regional Public Defender Capital Cases,” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f0fYpNeFJQ. Shared Solutions 2012
Other Opportunities? Shared Solutions 2012
Tim Murray Shared Solutions 2012
Crisis Intervention Teams • Mental health dockets • Wrap-around services • Outpatient competency restoration centers • Day reporting centers • Community-based receiving centers • Detox and referral facilities • Community policing • Affordable housing for returning individuals • Re-entry Roundtables Shared Solutions 2012
Who Must Make These Choices? Shared Solutions 2012
You! Shared Solutions 2012
Dallas Morning News January 12, 2006 COURT FINES MAN, 69, WHO WAS STUCK IN JAIL citation that ordered him to appear in Justice of the Peace Luis Sepulveda’s court on Jan. 5. Mr. Mann is indigent and takes medication to ward off the effects of schizophrenia. He spent his first few nights of freedom sleeping in the cab of an old truck behind the Oak Cliff church he attended. When Mr. Mann showed up in court Jan. 5, he was told a warrant was outstanding against him for a bad check he wrote to Minyard’s for. pleaded no contest. And on the second page of the plea paperwork, where a line can be checked to indicate if the defendant is indigent or not, a checkmark appears next to “I am not indigent.” Mr. Mann insists he did not make that mark. But Judge Sepulveda said that clerks are not allowed to fill out that part of the form and that they are well trained to $67.05He was told he would have to pay the amount of the check, plus a fine of $500 and court costs of $93. But first he would have to contact the district attorney’s office to work out the details. The district attorney’s office on Wednesday sought the case’s dismissal, and the judge will review the request. Mr. Mann, who showed up in court last week with his pastor but no lawyer, By Staff Writer, Jim O’Neill Walter Mann Sr. figured he had paid Dallas County plenty by spending 15 months in jail without any felony charges filed against him and without access to a lawyer. In fact, he figured Dallas County owed him something. But as he left the jail a few weeks ago, after a public defender heard about his plight and worked to get him released, he was handed a
Charges dropped against man left in jail Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Friday, January 13, 2006 • and $93 in court costs. • Mann was initially incarcerated on three minor bad check warrants. • The district attorney's office Wednesday asked a judge to dismiss the case against Mann, who is indigent and unemployed with an eighth-grade education. • "Under the policies, he would be entitled to having everything cleared with the time he served in jail," said Nick Cariotis, the head of the district attorney's bank fraud decision. DALLAS (AP) - Dallas County officials have dismissed remaining charges against a man who spent 15 months in jail without seeing a lawyer as he waited for a repeatedly postponed court hearing. Walter Mann Sr., 69, walked out of jail Dec. 16 after a cellmate told his public defender about Mann's plight. But he was ordered to appear in court Jan. 5, when he learned of an outstanding warrant for a bad check he wrote for $67.05. Mann was told he would have to pay that amount, plus a $500 fine
Indigent Defense On-Line Integrated Justice
Mental Health Docket:Travis County Court Program Description: Travis County created a docket for misdemeanor mental health cases. Meeting Tuesdays and Thursdays, prosecutors and defense counsel work with judges in effort to ensure that defendants will have a support structure in place to assist them in remaining law-abiding. Result: Lower recidivism rates and freed up resources. “[T]he mental health docket has not required significant additional funding. Indigent defense representation and prosecution must be paid as usual and no additional court staff has been needed.” -Judge Nancy Hohengarten, Travis County Travis County Courthouse “[T]he philosophy of the MH Docket is that the time spent now finding appropriate disposition of these cases will help alleviate recidivism and further drain on public resources. Prevention of subsequent arrests protects public safety, saves money, and is more just for mentally ill defendants.” -Judge Nancy Hohengarten, Travis County Shared Solutions 2012