| Dept. of Corrections Engages Partners Regarding Alternative Incarceration |
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Dept. of Corrections Engages Partners Regarding Alternative Incarceration
Since the beginning of the year, the Oregon Department of Corrections has engaged members of the criminal justice community in discussions about Alternative Incarceration Programs (AIP).
As with any of its activities, the agency encourages questions and suggestions for program enhancements. At a meeting last week with district attorneys, the types of crimes and lengths of sentence reductions were discussed.
The mission of the Oregon Department of Corrections is to promote public safety while holding offenders accountable for their actions and reducing the risk of future criminal behavior. The Department takes its mission literally.
In preliminary evaluations, the Alternative Incarceration Program has demonstrated positive impacts on offender recidivism. The Department of Corrections is committed to ongoing evaluation of its AIP programs.
AIP is limited only to those offenders who have been made eligible at the time of sentencing by a judge as part of the criminal process. At that time, there is the opportunity for input by the district attorney, the defense counsel, the victim and the offender. The court has the flexibility, including the length of sentence reduction, to stipulate the parameters associated with an offender’s participation in the program after reviewing all of the relevant facts presented in the case. If made eligible by the court, the Department of Corrections applies additional criteria regarding offenders’ participation related primarily to in-prison conduct.
The AIP programs have very rigorous standards and less than 5 percent of the offender population qualifies for admission to the program; fewer than half that number actually receive any sentence reduction due to AIP. The average sentence reduction is approximately 14 months.
As part of its ongoing efforts to ensure effective program implementation, the Department of Correction will continue to engage members of the criminal justice community to review and refine AIP policies. A review of the program and these policies will be ready for presentation at the next legislative session.
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