Pennsylvania Prison Reform To Move Addicted Offenders To Counties

On October 25, 2012, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett signed the second piece of legislation to implement the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI), Pennsylvania’s corrections reform that is intended to reduce prison populations by moving low-risk addicted offenders to supervision and treatment programs operated by the counties. There are more 51,500 state prison inmates in December 2012; by December 2017, the JRI is projected to reduce the number of state inmates to 44,294. In 2011, Pennsylvania spent $1.9 billion on Department of Corrections programs. By diverting these offenders from prison, the state anticipates that it will save . . .