Policy Options to Increase Public Safety & Manage Prison Population Growth
This policy brief provides options for Kansas policymakers interested in increasing public safety and averting the current growth projected for the state’s prison population. These options include sustaining the recent reductions in parole revocations, strengthening the community corrections and behavioral health treatment systems to reduce probation revocations, and increasing the percent of people completing programs shown to reduce their risk prior to release. This document provides descriptions of the impact that each policy would have on the prison population and provides cost estimates for the purposes of comparing the options against one another.
Arkansas policymakers have long expressed concerns about the state’s high recidivism rate. Over the past 10 years, an…
Read MoreIn April 2025, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a package of bipartisan criminal justice legislation into law,…
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Arkansas policymakers have long expressed concerns about the state’s high recidivism rate. Over the past 10 years, an estimated 72 percent of prison admissions in the state involved people who were revoked from supervision, with unmet substance use and mental health challenges playing a significant role in these failures.
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In April 2025, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a package of bipartisan criminal justice legislation into law, which is designed to increase public safety and improve community supervision. The legislation passed nearly unanimously.
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