New Hampshire Reviewing New Release Regulations
New Hampshire Corrections Commissioner William Wrenn is looking at new ways to reduce the state-prison population while putting on temporary hold another new program that offers early release to inmates the department deems suitable.
Wrenn also defended remarks to lawmakers regarding whether the state should incarcerate habitual offenders. On average, about 500 paroled inmates return every year for violating the terms of their release, the commissioner said. Reducing recidivism could mean substantial savings, given that there are 2,600 inmates in the entire prison system in facilities in Concord, Goffstown, Berlin and Laconia. The Laconia facility is scheduled to close due to the state’s budget crunch, with an anticipated savings of $8 million to $10 million …
Wrenn … wants to put case managers and program workers in district probation and parole offices to provide additional treatment at the local level, and leave supervision and enforcement to parole officers. The prison staff also needs to help inmates find housing and jobs after their parole plans are approved, he said.
New Hampshire has about a 40 percent recidivism rate. Reducing that even modestly could free up about 300 beds a year, Wrenn said. “That’s what we’re hoping for. In closing Laconia, we have to do a better job keeping people on the outside. We’re not going to have a lot of bed space,” Wrenn said, adding that he also plans to improve education programs …
A program allowing inmates to file petitions with a newly formed clemency board to seek early release, quietly launched Jan. 1, has been temporarily suspended while the new policy is rewritten, Wrenn said. Of the nine inmates whose petitions already have been heard by the board, only a few will likely be accepted, Wrenn said. The hearings are not open to the public. A revised law requires Wrenn to accept applications for early release and to make recommendations to the sentencing court if the inmate is a “suitable” candidate. A judge will have the final say.
The policy outlines how inmates can become suitable candidates by completing programs and remaining on good behavior. All inmates are eligible to apply except those convicted of capital or first-degree murder and those deemed to be sexually violent predators, a small percentage of all sex offenders.
The Union-Leader article has a lot more information.