Mike Klein Online

Can Georgia Learn from Texas Prison System Reforms?

This article was written for and published by the Georgia Public Policy Foundation.

Each day across Georgia, the state Department of Corrections feeds a population that is nearly equal to the number of residents living in Marietta.  It takes thousands of pounds of food to feed nearly 60,000 adult prisoners.  Paying for the state’s corrections system with its 31 state prisons costs taxpayers $1 billion per year, including the cost to manage 150,000 parolees.

This month the PEW Center on the States reported the first year-to-year drop in state prison population since 1972.   The percentage rate began to decline in 2007, but real numbers did not decline until last year.  Unfortunately, not in Georgia which posted the sixth largest percentage increase in the nation, a 1.6% growth rate, and in real numbers, the Georgia prison population grew by 843 adult felons. Continue reading →

April 21, 2010 Posted by mikekleinonline | Uncategorized | Georgia Department of Corrections, Georgia State University, Marc Levin, Mike Klein Online, PEW Center on the States, State Prison Systems, Texas Department of Corrections, Texas Governor Rick Perry, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Texas Representative Jerry Madden | Leave a comment