Sentencing bill targets worst offenders

When Missouri adopted stiffer sentencing laws in the 1990s, there was bound to be a surge in the state's prison population. And there was.

In the last decade, Missouri's average daily prison population has doubled to about 30,000 inmates, about half of which are nonviolent offenders. During that same time frame, the Missouri Department of Corrections saw an annual budget increase of 191 percent to $574.5 million. Even with new facilities, the state has filled prisons with more inmates than the facilities were designed to hold.

While most Missourians don't want to lighten up on serious offenders, they also agree something has to be done to address the crowded inmate population. A bill awaiting Gov. Bob Holden's signature accomplishes both objectives.

Under the proposed law, nonviolent offenders would spend less time in prison, opening up the equivalent of an entire prison -- about 1,542 beds. That alone would save the state $21 million a year, a point that should resonate with anyone who has been paying attention to Missouri's financial affairs.

The bill would lower the mandatory minimum sentence for lesser felonies such as passing bad checks or repeat drunk drivers from five years to four years. Also, inmates serving their second sentence for a nonviolent offense would have to serve 30 percent of the time, instead of the current 40 percent.

Another provision of the bill expands the list of serious crimes that require longer prison terms --rape, arson, murder -- that require inmates to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences to include first-degree assault of a law enforcement officer, domestic assault, elder abuse and statutory rape or statutory sodomy when the victim is under age 12.

Under this bill, the prison system is being freed up of nonviolent offenders to make room for the more dangerous offenders, who will be put away longer. Holden has until July 15 to take action. He should sign the bill.