Ohio to charge inmates $1 per month for electricity

Zanesville Times Recorder

COLUMBUS - Ohio inmates paying their debt to society also will have to pay $1 per month for electricity and deal with less variety at meal time, including fewer beverage choices, under prisons department spending cuts intended to help the state close an expected $8 billion budget hole.

The new electricity fee and the changes in meals will be implemented in July and are among $30 million in moneysaving measures being adopted from suggestions made by Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction employees, department spokesman Carlo LoParo said Friday. Administrators sought the staff's input and received thousands of ideas, he said.

Dropping noncarbonated flavored drinks, currently offered with inmate lunches and dinners, will trim $2 million in costs over two years, LoParo said. Another $3 million will be saved with more repeats at mealtime - serving the most popular and least expensive foods more often...[Full Article]

Violent Offenders Being Released Early

A new study by the Associated Press indicates that California's early release program is putting violent offenders back on the streets.

The A.P. review of three large California counties found that in the first month of the program more than 50 inmates with violent convictions were let out of jail early.

In Butte County 70 inmates have been let out as part of the early release program, but Sheriff Jerry Smith insists none of them had violent convictions.

"We do not release violent offenders, strikers, sexual offenders or otherwise prohibited people that meet certain criteria," said Smith.

State guidelines list more than 150 violent offenses that make an inmate ineligible for early release, but critics say the program has loopholes. In one case a Sacramento inmate was let out early on a probation violation even though his underlying conviction was assault with a deadly weapon.

Smith believes the right rules are in place but it is up to each department to properly enforce them.

"To my knowledge nobody has slipped through the cracks, we've been very diligent about checking records before issuing a release," explained Smith.

Smith says he is far more worried about the upcoming flood of inmates due to be released from state prisons. More than 6,000 state prisoners could be let out later this year as part of legislation designed to save the state more than $500 million.

"There's a possibility that a good portion of those state inmates could be shoved down to the county level. That's obviously a grave concern," said Smith.