NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Gov. Bill Lee's Criminal Justice Investment Task Force released policy recommendations today for upcoming legislative sessions.
"My administration is committed to addressing public safety and reentry throughout Tennessee, and I'm grateful to have the support of the members of this Task Force, Gov. Lee said. "Dedicated leaders from across our state have come together to address this important issue, and I look forward to reviewing their recommendations."
The Task Force offered 23 recommendations. Together, they are aimed at strengthening responses to individuals with behavioral health needs, equalizing the treatment of those housed in local jails with those housed in state prisons, tailoring response to different types of offenses, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of community supervision and minimizing barriers to successful reentry.
Gov. Lee established the Criminal Justice Investment Task Force in March to examine challenges within Tennessee's criminal justice system. The Task Force was charged with developing solutions to strengthen public safety more deliberate policies in the state's corrections data.
The Task Force studied Tennessee's sentencing and corrections system for five months. This involved analyzing data, evaluating policies and programs, reviewing research on what works to reduce recidivism and developing comprehensive and tailored recommendations.
The Task Force is made up of diverse perspectives of the criminal justice system including prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, legislators, law enforcement, state agency directors, justice-involved individuals and advocates for crime victims.
According to Gov. Lee's office, over the past ten years, Tennessee's incarceration rate has increased to 10% above the national average; however, communities are no safer. Despite the higher incarceration rate, as well as spending over $1 billion annually on corrections in the state budget, Tennessee has the fourth highest violent crime rate in the nation. The state also has a high recidivism rate, with nearly half released individuals rearrested within three years of their release.
"It's clear we cannot incarcerate our way out of the issues facing Tennessee's criminal justice system: high recidivism, soaring costs and a shortage of behavioral health services in the community," Department of Correction Commissioner Tony Parker - who also chaired the Task Force's probation and parole subcommittee - said. "The Task Force recommendations offer smart, data-driven policy alternatives that can help move Tennessee forward and promote public safety in our communities."
The Task Force's recommendations include increasing access to sentencing alternatives, ensuring everyone who is released from prison or jail has a period of supervision to improve reentry success, streamlining the parole process for individuals sentenced for nonviolent offenses, increasing access to post-secondary education and training opportunities for incarcerated individuals and improving early detection of behavioral health needs to divert those who would be better served in the community.
Other recommendations would launch a comprehensive review of the state's sentencing code and recommend changes in the 2021 legislative session, establish earned compliance credits for those on community supervision and reduce probation term lengths.
The interim report, the data presentation used to guide the work of the four subcommittees and the recommendations from the victim's roundtables can be found here.
