Gov. Matt Bevin and key legislators on Tuesday introduced an expansive plan to make it easier for felons to reenter society after their release from prison. Senate Bill 120 would let some felons hold jobs while incarcerated, either through companies invited to operate inside prisons or work-release programs at local jails; reduce the time that compliant offenders serve on probation or parole; prevent defendants from being jailed because they are unable to pay court costs; and create a pilot project similar to drug court to supervise newly released felons with addictions. Perhaps most important, supporters said, the bill would remove the automatic ban on felons seeking professional and occupational licenses from state boards, instead giving the boards discretion to set their own standards. “We just want to make sure that if you’ve done what we asked you to do in a Kentucky prison, when you get back out, that we’ve offered a path to success for you to take advantage of. You’ve got a job. You’ve got a support structure. You’ve got sobriety. Those things add up to stronger families, lower cost to taxpayers and a safer commonwealth of Kentucky,” said Senate Judiciary Chairman Whitney Westerfield, R-Hopkinsville, the bill’s sponsor. On average, the state pays $17,700 to house each of its 23,777 inmates in a prison or local jail. Kentucky’s recidivism rate — the rate at which felons released from prison are re-incarcerated for a new offense within three years — has risen from 36 percent in 2008 to 44…more detail
