CONCORD - As part of the state’s ongoing efforts to increase public safety and reduce the number of repeat criminal offenders, Gov. John Lynch and state leaders announced today a new partnership to develop a data-driven strategy to reduce crime, carefully cut corrections spending and reinvest the savings generated in measures that will make New Hampshire safer.

Gov. Lynch was joined by Senate President Sylvia Larsen, House Speaker Terie Norelli, State Rep. Neal Kurk, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Broderick, Attorney General Michael Delaney, Corrections Commissioner William Wrenn and representatives from the Public Safety Performance Project of the Pew Center on the States in announcing the new partnership.

“There are some crimes that are so serious that the men and women who commit them deserve to remain behind bars for the rest of their lives. But we also know that many of the offenders who enter our Corrections system will at some point return to society,” Gov. Lynch said. “To make New Hampshire safer and to reduce Corrections costs, we need to do more to ensure that released offenders become productive and contributing members of our state, and not commit new crimes.

“This new partnership will give us the data we need to reduce our recidivism rate in an effective and efficient way. I am very excited that we have entered into this partnership and I want to thank the Pew Center for its commitment and everyone here in New Hampshire who worked hard to make this initiative a reality.”

Between 2000 and 2009, New Hampshire’s prison population climbed 14 percent, from 2,291 to 2,615 inmates. Over this same period, the New Hampshire Department of Corrections’ budget grew 76 percent, from $59.2 million to $104 million.
In this budget, Gov. Lynch worked with legislators and state offices to begin to stem those rising costs, resulting in a budget that is less than was spent in the previous two years. To achieve those savings, the state closed the Lakes Region Correctional Facility and increased its investment in Community Corrections.

The New Hampshire Center for Public Policy projects that if existing policies remain unchanged, by 2018 the average daily prison population will be 23 percent higher than it is today, and the system will need to add at least 600 beds to its capacity. Gov. Lynch and legislative leaders have been focused on addressing the state’s increasing prison population by reducing the recidivism rate. To achieve this, state leaders reached out to the Pew Center for assistance.

“Because we are facing unprecedented state budgetary pressures, this comprehensive study couldn’t come at a more critical time. I am particularly interested in the Justice Center’s analysis that will reveal the composition and characteristics of our prison population, including the numbers of men and women who have mental health and substance abuse needs who may be better served and monitored outside the criminal justice system,” said Larsen.
“We know that the majority of the men and women who enter our correctional facilities will someday be released back into society. We must make sure we can reduce the number of former inmates who re-offend because the costs of recidivism create too much stress on our state budget and drain resources from other vital state programs,” Speaker Norelli said. “This partnership will bring various agencies and stakeholders closer together in an effort to address this important issue, and will allow us to implement strategies and programs to reduce our recidivism rate.”

“The Pew Grant is important, and I am very pleased that New Hampshire is a recipient. The data that is generated by the study will allow the State to look creatively at public safety issues in New Hampshire,” said Rep. Neal Kurk.

Representatives from the Public Safety Performance Project of the Pew Center on the States were on hand to pledge financial and technical assistance to help New Hampshire with this comprehensive study, which will be led by the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center. The Bureau of Justice Assistance, a component of the U.S. Department of Justice, has also contributed funding support to the project.

“By reducing recidivism everyone wins, including the courts. The task will not be easy but its value and importance cannot be understated. The status quo is not the solution,” Chief Justice Broderick said. “I congratulate the Governor, the Senate President and Speaker and the Attorney General for their leadership and the Pew Foundation, the Justice Center and the N.H. Charitable Foundation for their commitment to the “justice reinvestment” initiative. It will make a difference.”

“The Department of Justice is pleased to support and participate in this important this partnership, which I am confident will allow us to better protect public safety,” said Delaney.

In nine other states, the CSG Justice Center has partnered with Pew and the Bureau of Justice Assistance to help policymakers enact legislative packages that have safely averted hundreds of millions in corrections spending. These policymakers, using data analysis and policy options provided by the Justice Center, made reinvestments that have reduced recidivism, prison growth, and corrections spending.

“New Hampshire’s top leaders recognize that prisons must be put to the cost-benefit test, just like any other taxpayer-funded program,” said Adam Gelb, director of Pew’s Public Safety Performance Project. “There is a growing recognition across the country that we can’t build our way to public safety, and the bipartisan commitment to work toward better, more affordable solutions here in New Hampshire is especially strong. We are confident this collaborative effort will produce a plan for greater public safety at a lower cost to state taxpayers.”

To guide the work of the CSG Justice Center, the state has established a Justice Reinvestment Leadership Team composed of state agency heads, legislative leaders from both sides of the aisle, and top officials from the court system. The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation will also participate.

“We welcome this comprehensive review of Corrections policies and procedures, population trends, and the criminal code. Such an analysis will not only enhance public safety and reduce costs in the long term but will assist the department in mapping a path for offender success and lower recidivism,” Wrenn said.

Technical assistance under the justice reinvestment initiative is provided in three phases: analysis and policy development, implementation, and accountability. To incorporate perspectives and recommendations from across the criminal justice system, the Justice Center will engage stakeholders. Examples of stakeholders will include judges, county attorneys, public defenders, law enforcement, advocates for victims and survivors, and others.

The Council of State Governments Justice Center is a national nonprofit organization that serves policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels from all branches of government. It provides practical, nonpartisan advice and consensus-driven strategies-informed by available evidence-to increase public safety and strengthen communities. To learn more about the justice reinvestment strategy in New Hampshire and other states, please visit: www.justicereinvestment.org.

Launched in 2006 as a project of The Pew Center on the States, the Public Safety Performance Project seeks to help states advance fiscally sound, data-driven policies and practices in sentencing and corrections that protect public safety, hold offenders accountable and control corrections costs. To learn more about the Public Safety Performance Project, please visit: www.pewpublicsafety.org.