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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Roseburg shooting victim describes gunman's rampage ... Habitat for Humanity volunteers raise walls and hope for Medford family ... Gold Hill residents say city dawdled as streets flooded ... Roseburg shooting victim describes gunman's rampage ... Habitat for Humanity volunteers raise walls and hope for Medford family ... Gold Hill residents say city dawdled as streets flooded ... OUR VIEW Our View: Don't siphon off prison savings just yet Comment MailTribune.com Writer Posted May. 24, 2015 at 12:01 AM Posted May. 24, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News In 2013, the Oregon Legislature did a good thing. Faced with a soaring prison population that was projected to cost the state $600 million over 10 years for new prisons, lawmakers decided instead to change sentencing for carefully selected crimes and invest more money into community corrections, drug and mental health treatment and probation, all proven to reduce recidivism at far less cost than incarceration. So far, it's working. The state's prison population has leveled off and begun to decline. Eventually, the savings may be large enough to provide more funding for schools, higher education and other neglected parts of the state budget. But after only two years, lawmakers in Salem are already itching to divert some of the money to other state budget needs. That's premature. Projections indicate the new approach will save $53 million in prison costs in the next biennium. In his proposed budget, then-Gov. John Kitzhaber allocated all of that money to local community efforts to reduce crime and keep the prison population from growing faster. But the co-chairs of the Legislature's budget-writing Ways and Means Committee have proposed spending only $20 million on local crime prevention efforts, using the rest for public schools. Community corrections and substance abuse treatment providers, those on the local front lines, say they've only just started providing new, intensive programs needed to keep prison populations down. After years of declining support for those efforts, it will take time and continued funding to fully develop them. In Jackson County, additional funding would, among other things, help add desperately needed slots for treatment programs and be used to fill two long-vacant positions for release officers, who assess which prisoners are the best candidates for early release and treatment. Budget committee co-chairman Rep. Peter Buckley, D-Ashland, says the savings were never intended to be spent entirely on local community justice programs, and that lawmakers have made it clear education was the top priority for state dollars. Other legislators, however, have said the measure was approved in 2013 with the expectation that the savings would go to community corrections programs at local levels. Education is important, and healthy schools also can play a role in crime prevention by giving Oregon youths a strong start toward becoming productive citizens. But changing the justice system to emphasize local treatment and supervision over incarceration is a work in progress, and needs to be given time to succeed. Lawmakers should put the savings from the prison budget toward community justice reinvestment for the next two years, and then assess the situation again. If legislators shortchange community justice efforts before they have a real chance to get off the ground, the state runs the risk of sabotaging its own success. MailTribune.com Writer Posted May. 24, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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