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Tampa Dem reintroduces ‘gain-time’ proposal to promote inmates’ rehabilitation [1]

['Mitch Perry', 'More From Author', '- January']

Date: 2023-01-05  

Tampa Democratic state Rep. Dianne Hart has again filed “gain-time” legislation that would allow some prison inmates to reduce their sentences through rehabilitation programs.

Calling the state’s criminal justice system “outdated,” Hart filed a proposal this week (HB 115) that would allow non-violent offenders to reduce their mandatory time served from 85% to 65% through their successful completion of academic and other learning courses while incarcerated.

Hart has sponsored a version of this bill since her first term in the House in 2019, but it’s been opposed by law enforcement agencies such as the Florida Sheriffs Association over the years and therefore never made it out of committee to the House floor for a vote.

That’s despite a 2019 report from the Criminal Justice Estimating Conference predicting that five years after lowering the threshold to 65% for non-violent offenders, the state would see a reduction of 7,266 inmate beds and cost savings of $441 million.

That same report found that Florida ranks among the minority of states that require non-violent offenders to serve the same percentage of time as those with violent offenses.

“I sincerely believe that by providing inmates with educational opportunities we will be able to tackle many issues that are plaguing our correctional system,” Hart said in a written statement.

“This bill was drafted with the input of those formerly and currently incarcerated and their families. This bill would not only provide an incentive for inmates to gain education while incarcerated, but will reduce our prison population substantially, thus making our correctional facilities safer for both officers and inmates. “

GOP proposal

Gainesville Republican state Sen. Keith Perry sponsored a proposal in the 2022 session that would have lowered the threshold to 75% for non-violent offenders, but that bill died in committee.

“Gain-time” is defined by the Florida Department of Corrections as the opportunity for an inmate to receive a reduction in his or her overall sentence as imposed by the court.

The department is the third largest prison system in the country with nearly 81,000 inmates as of March 2022, according to the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability.

In her press release, Hart says that the bill is needed because the state’s correctional facilities “are overcrowded with inmates, causing unsafe environments for our officers and staff. Some facilities are understaffed to dangerous levels, leaving one officer to supervise more than 100 inmates at a time.”

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[1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/01/05/tampa-dem-reintroduces-gain-time-proposal-to-promote-inmates-rehabilitation/

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