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Senate committee advances bill requiring annual corrections data reporting to guide reentry policy
Summary
House Bill 136 would require the Department of Corrections to produce annual, comprehensive records on incarceration, program participation and post-release outcomes to help lawmakers evaluate sentencing, parole and reentry policies; the Senate committee approved the bill unanimously.
Representative Jared Baumann presented House Bill 136 to the Senate Standing Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection as a follow-up to last year’s criminal justice changes. The bill would require the Department of Corrections to provide an annual, standardized report with demographic data, length of stay, program participation while incarcerated, parole and supervision outcomes, and recidivism metrics.
Baumann said lawmakers currently rely too often on anecdotes and incomplete information when adjusting criminal justice policy. “Unfortunately, here in Kentucky, our ability to assess and make changes to our criminal justice system too often has to rely on anecdotes and incomplete data. This is what House Bill 136 seeks to address,” Baumann said. He said the goal is to target resources — personnel and dollars — where they most effectively reduce recidivism.
Josh Crawford, director of criminal justice initiatives at the Georgia Center for Opportunity, told the committee that robust corrections data is standard in several peer states and would let Kentucky craft evidence-based reentry and rehabilitation policies. The sponsor and witnesses listed examples of data elements to be reported, including length of stay for first-time offenders, parole and supervision outcomes, demographic information, participation in rehabilitative programs while incarcerated, and measures of post-release outcomes.
Senator Byrd said he would vote yes but criticized last year’s HB 5 and said data collection should have occurred previously: “I'm gonna vote yes to this, but I I do want to say unequivocally that the crime rate dropped before HB 5 … that it has negatively influenced and impacted many, many people in this state. And that this data should have been collected beforehand. So, yes, but little bit too late,” Byrd said.
Committee members voted by roll call; the transcript records the following recorded yes votes: Senator Byrd; Senator Boswell; Senator Higdon; Senator Nunn; Senator Reid; Senator Richardson; Senator Smith; Senator Tichenor; Senator Wilson; Senator Yates; and Chair Deneen. The committee recorded the bill as passing unanimously and forwarded it to the full Senate.
The bill creates a reporting requirement and does not itself appropriate funds in the committee discussion. Sponsors said the data will help lawmakers determine which programs to fund going forward and align state resources with interventions that show impact.
