Three bills signed into law during the final work week of the Arkansas 95th General Assembly intend to lower the rate of felons re-offending after being released from prison.

House Bill 1931 and Senate Bill 485 address the need for recidivism reduction in the state, while Senate Bill 537 develops a program to give a released felon credits for employment. All three were signed into law by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on April 16.

HB1931 states in its Legislative Findings opening section that as of 2019, Arkansas had a 48.3% recidivism rate, meaning that 48.3% of inmates who were released returned to prison for an additional term. This costs the state $140 million annually, the bill states.

It then calls for a hard focus on beginning reentry preparations upon an inmate’s first day of imprisonment by adopting needed policies and rules to serve this goal. This will lead to a program created for each inmate that will be continuously assessed and updated for the best possible outcome.

The complete story can be found on the Ozarks First Website.

(Story by Alex Kienlen, Ozarks First)