Over the past several weeks, there have been several commentaries on Utah’s Justice Reinvestment Initiative. JRI decreased penalties and prison sentences for drug use. JRI is an important goal and effort led by Rep. Eric Hutchings. Drug users should not be in prison.
U.S. Attorney for Utah John W. Huber complained that “chronic offenders are slipping through the state system” in his Oct. 15 commentary. I disagree with his statement that JRI is the reason.
Huber complained, correctly, about prolific offenders victimizing communities with constant criminal behavior and property crimes. He complained about a case in which one person was arrested 29 times and convicted 17 times for felonies.
That commentary was followed by arguments that JRI is working (by staff at the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice) and claimed the recent JRI audit showed its success. But the audit showed serious issues with Utah’s criminal justice system. That included not enough funding for Adult Probation and Parole to monitor and ensure proper supervision of parolees, and a concern that addiction treatment (generally covering up mental health issues) success is not available due to inadequate reporting.
The audit showed county jail populations as stable but missed the fact that Salt Lake County’s jail only takes first- and second-degree felonies, and the low-level offenders may be double or triple what is indicated on the graph for jail. The commentary claimed that the U.S. attorney’s commentary is a “baseless attack ... devoid of data.”
The Salt Lake Tribune has published several stories over the years that confirm Huber’s claims and reported on the inadequate “revolving door” at the Salt Lake County jail. The Salt Lake County Jail Dashboard shows many individuals with more than 29 arrests. And, despite many complaints, there are still 184 open and unavailable beds in the jail.
Salt Lake County Councilman Jim Bradley also complained about Huber’s commentary and said that “the major challenge facing the implementation of the JRI was one of adequate funding.”
That is the crux of the issue. JRI, in my opinion, despite its well-intentioned goal, forced an unfunded mandate on county jails and district attorneys. The issue and problem that needs attention is drug users do not generally commit victimless crimes, and if they are not willing to accept and respond to treatment, they will continue to commit crimes unless they are incarcerated.
That burden is now on county taxpayers. JRI is not responsible for the public safety impact. County jail and prosecution budgets are inadequate to provide adequate public safety funding. And individuals with behavioral health disorders who victimize citizens are criminal justice problems. It is not a waste of resources to incarcerate criminals to keep them from victimizing citizens.
The jail and district attorney budget is having public hearings now. The sheriff’s budget is $5 million less than last year and the district attorney has 14 unfilled prosecutor positions. The result of inadequate public safety funding, forced on them by the Legislature’s unfunded mandate, includes situations in which someone who empties a gun into a car full of people gets jail (despite Adult Probation and Parole recommending probation) and a robber being sentenced to one to 15 years in prison but released after 30 days in jail. (He was killed by police officers six months later after robbing three at gunpoint.)
I believe that the U.S. attorney, CCJJ and county governments are trying to make JRI work. But the Legislature has an audit that suggests further attention to JRI, including increased probation and parole funding and better treatment results reporting.
One of the objectives of JRI was to support local corrections systems, and the Legislature should study that. The Legislature should study the costs to properly incarcerate threats to society and fund either the state or counties to take those threats out of society. The state should also demand that all treatment centers that receive federal funds, track and report all results for a year.
JRI still needs attention at the Legislature to make it more effective.
George Chapman
George Chapman is a former candidate for Salt Lake City mayor and writes a blog at georgechapman.net.