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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Mike Hanna |
  
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Prison reform package goes to governor
HARRISBURG, Sept. 23 – State Rep. Mike Hanna, D-Clinton/Centre, said a package of legislation he voted for that would relieve prison overcrowding, improve public safety, reduce repeat offenses and save taxpayers money will go to the governor for his signature.
"These bills would help streamline the state prison system and update it to reflect today's needs," Hanna said.
House Bill 4 would require offenders who receive longer sentences to serve those in state correctional facilities instead of county jails, where hundreds of serious offenders do time. County jails were originally designed as short-term detention facilities and are not equipped to house or treat serious offenders.
The bill also would create an alternative minimum sentence program for non-violent offenders. The incentives would encourage non-violent inmates to follow a path that gives them more skills before re-entering society.
House Bill 5 would update and streamline procedures for prisoner transport, and increase public safety by making better use of teleconferencing tools to reduce the need to move prisoners between facilities.
House Bill 6 would create new parole guidelines that put more emphasis on supervising parolees in the first year after their release to cut down on recidivism.
House Bill 7 would give the Department of Corrections more control over decisions to relocate seriously ill and terminally ill inmates to medical care settings.
"The changes will result in a more efficient use of tax dollars," Hanna said.
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