ALC – Charitable, Penal, and Correctional Institutions – July 30, 2009
Posted on July 30th, 2009
Date & Time: Tuesday, July 30, 2009 at 1:30 AM
Location: Room 171, State Capitol
Agenda: http://tr.im/uMHP
Attachments: none
1:35 pm – It has been almost two weeks since committee meetings were held in Little Rock. Alot of socializing going on. It seems alittle strange, almost like the start of a session.
1:39 pm – This meeting is a subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council. The Council was established by Act 264 of 1949 to collect data and information upon which legislative decisions will be made during regular session of the General Assembly. The Bureau of Legislative Research of the Legislative Council is a service agency within the legislative department of government. All members of the General Assembly have access to the Bureau of Legislative Research. The Legislative Council is the supervisory committee for the Bureau of Legislative Research, the Council coordinates the activities of the various interim committees and through the various committees provides legislative oversight of the executive branch of government. The Council consists of 36 regular members which is comprised of 20 House members and 16 Senators. In addition there are 24 ex-officio voting members and 5 ex-officio non-voting members.(A.C.A. 10-3-301).
1:40 pm – I am not a member of this committee, but since term limits all members are encouraged to attend.
1:41 pm – Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel is making a presentation about the “Smart Choices, Better Chances” Education and Crime Prevention Program.
1:43 pm – This presentation is associated with Senator Glover’s mention that we need to do something to prevent a growing prison population by making early contact with youth.
1:45 pm – We have 9 Senators and 29 Representatives present at today’s meeting.
1:47 pm – Murder rate for Arkansans 17 years and younger increased by 255% between 1988 and 1992. The “Smart Choices, Better Chances” program was started in the Spring of 1995 to provide preventative education courses in response to the rising crime.
1:49 pm – FYI: This committee reviews matters pertaining to the Department of Correction and it’s various units; the state correctional facilities for juveniles; In state institutions which provide institutional services for citizens; and private, facilities providing institutional services and care purchased by the state for the benefit of the indigent.
1:50 pm – The “Smart Choices, Better Chances” program is the first program in the nation to focus curriculum on state’s juvenile justice system. It teaches students about specific laws and specific punishments, from burglary to terroristic threatening to assault and murder.
1:53 pm – AG McDaniel showed a short clip of the programs that are shown to children. The target audiences start in grades 4 to 6 who recieve concentrated information through a series of six one-hour lesson plan. Junior and Senior High students get one-hour long assemblies. Teachers or other groups that would like these preseantations for schools or other groups may contact the AG office. www.ArkansasAG.gov
1:57 pm – Rep. Pam Adcock asked a great question. “Do we do anything to track the success of this program?” AG McDaniel said that we do not.
1:58 pm – Rep. Pennartz is asking how much the program costs. AG McDaniel said it cost between $6000 and $8000 dollars for materials but does not include incidental for salaries of those who make presentation or manage program.
1:59 pm – Rep. Pennartz is asking for updated crime data because the information in the slides is almost 15 years old.
2:02 pm – Most of the presentations are performed by more than 650 adjuncte instructors. The volunteers are law enforcement officers (current and former), educators, attorneys and legal professionals, civic group members and concerned citizens.
2:04 pm – AG McDaniel says that the program is not getting into enough schools. 21,870 people participated in Smart Choices, Better Chances presentations in 2008 alone. 450 presentations made in 2008 in 30 counties at 88 schools, civic organizations, etc.
2:06 pm – Senator Glover is asking what we need to do to decrease crime rates in Arkansas, says that we are “grasping at straws.” AG McDaniel says that we are already doing the right things, mentions Drug Courts.
2:08 pm – I can’t help but get the icky feeling that all of this is a great big scripted campaign commercial for AG McDaniel with Senator Glover providing a “faux interview” to help the AG get out all his talking points.
2:12 pm – Rep. Gaskill is asking about “One-Day Sentence” and other “Scared-Straight” programs.
2:18 pm – The current prison population is currently 15,146. It is expected to grow to 19,337 by the end of year 2019 assuming a growth rate of about 400 per year.
2:22 pm – There sure are a lot of TV station cameras here at the ALC committee meeting. I expect they are here for the “Larry Norris Show” coming up next.
2:23 pm – I just looked through the “Smart Chances, Better Chances” materials that you can get form the Attorney General’s office. They would make some good home schooling materials when teaching about the law enforcement and justice system.
2:26 pm – Larry Norris coming to the podium looking rather “peaked”. Is that the correct spelling?
2:29 pm – Mr. Norris provided report requested by Rep. Adcock concerning the 2005 Recidivism study.
2:31 pm – The number of inmates serving life totals 1,138 or 7% of the total prison population. The number of inmates serving life without parole totals 621 or 4% of the prison population. Therefore, 11% of the inmates currently serving time in the ADC will never go home. This is up from 10% just a few years ago.
2:33 pm – Mr. Norris is explaining the incident notification process in which the incidents are broken into two levels of seriousness. I really which we could have gotten a written procedure rather than a quick overview of the notification process.
2:37 pm – Mr. Benny Magness, Chairman, Board of Corrections is currrently answering questions from Senator Kim Hendren.
2:41 pm – Senator Glover is asking Mr. Magness about improving the process to notify the legislature of serious incidents.
2:47 pm – Rep. Lea is asking about the request for written notification process and the failure of the minutes of the board meeting. Mr. Magness, says that Robert’s Rules of Order does not require minutes reflect anything but when action is taken. Rep. Creekmore is asking for an example of what would be put into the minutes. Mrs. Creekmore points out that her experience on various boards and commissions has shown that most discussions are recorded in the minutes. My own experience on boards also tells me that reports made before the board are recorded, and the fact that no motion made for follow up or continuing action is a passive “action” in and of itself and is therefore recorded.
2:54 pm – Mr. Magness says that their method for recording is according to that recommended by the Attorney General. I would bet that the AG doesn’t appreciate that hot potato being tossed into his lap.
2:58 pm – Mr. Magness seems to be getting into an argument with Senator Glover about who the board is answerable to.
3:04 pm – I just asked some follow up questions from Mr. Magness about their interpretation of Roberts Rules. “Is a report made before the board an action that should be recorded in the minutes?” Shouldn’t the decision to not take action be recorded in the minutes as “no action taken?” I am not sure what answer I got, I think he agreed, but claimed that no discussion was presented to the board about the incident whatsoever.
3:08 pm – Senator Key is pointing out that there is a lack of consistency in minutes and suggest that we need to look at all the boards and commissions for common procedures for minutes.
3:14 pm – Rep. Cooper was asking about the success of about the 70% rule in freeing up bed in the prison system.
3:20 pm – I asked follow up questions, inquiring why not one of the members of the board thought the incident did not rise to the level of needing at least some formal discussion and reports before the board.
3:22 pm – Rep. Saunders asked a series of questions that seemed to shape the debate that the incident to a “personnel issue”. He said, “We can’t put that stuff in the minutes or we might get sued.”
3:25 pm – Senator Kim Hendren discussing how thing ought to be done to keep the prision system accountable. He is drawing an applause from citizens to the back of the room.
3:27 pm – Rep. John Burris is pointing out a conflict in testimony by the Board. During the last meeting, we discuss the three big recent incidents. Will those be discussed during the regular board meeting? Will those incidents be recorded in the minutes?
3:31 pm – Rep. Creekmore is asking about the recent escape. What options does the board have for actions to be taken? He said they may consider using “barometrics” [sic]. Rep. Creekmore points out that this was a high security escape and that the inmates had nothing to lose. She wants assurance that action is taken that prevents this in the future.
3:36 pm – Rep. Harrelson seems to asking if the incident notifications are subject to FOIA. He was informed they were not. In my opinion, this makes it even more important that the board handle this situation formally because it is not subject to transparent oversight.
3:39 pm – Senator Hendren pointed out that the board, by conducting so much business in private, may be violating the proper execution of business by public boards and commissions. I agree.
3:41 pm – Committee adjourned.
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