Amended version of inmate release proposal advances

CARSON CITY -- More than 1,000 prison inmates could be released early over the next year under an amended version of a bill that on Thursday won the approval of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

Assemblyman David Parks, D-Las Vegas, said that no inmates would be released without the approval of the state Parole Board and that most of them would be supervised after their release by parole officers.

Citizens should not be concerned that potentially violent inmates would be released to the street, he added.

"This will allow them to qualify to have their cases reviewed by the Parole Board," he said. "The Parole Board has to decide whether they should be released. They still have to go through the Parole Board process."

He said he expected the Senate Judiciary Committee to hear the bill today and for quick passage by both houses. Parks said it is the most important bill dealing with prison overcrowding to come out of the Legislature this session.

During a May 16 hearing, Corrections Director Howard Skolnik predicted chaos and crime would result if he were forced to release 1,600 inmates to the streets July 1. "I guess we can hope for the best, but that is not a real good corrections policy," he testified.

But that version of Assembly Bill 510 was amended. Parks said he expects the orderly release of about 1,200 inmates over the next year or two once the bill becomes law.

Under the bill, the number of good-time credits, usually 10 days to 20 days per month, earned by inmates dating to 1997 could be doubled, with the increase applied to the minimum sentences of inmates. Inmates convicted of Class A and B felonies -- violent crimes -- would not be eligible for additional good-time credits.

In addition, the good-time credit increase would be applied only to the minimum portion of an inmate's sentence, not to maximum sentences. Inmates receive sentences such as one year to four years, or four years to 10 years. Because the bill affects only the minimum portion of the sentence, they could not be released to the streets without Parole Board approval.

But starting with inmates sentenced after July 1, the increase in good-time credits would be applied both to the minimum and maximum portion of inmate's sentences.

The inmate population in Nevada has grown beyond all projections. In April, 13,142 inmates were housed in Nevada prisons, compared with 12,138 a year earlier. Estimates now indicate that the population will grow by another 8,766 in the next eight years.

To house the additional inmates, Gov. Jim Gibbons has proposed a $300 million prison construction budget for the next two years. Prison officials have estimated that $1.9 billion will have to be spent on prison construction to meet their needs over the next decade.