After talking with my husband this week and verifing with a few other orangeman's wives, the Tucson Warden has been telling inmates that the department is looking seriously at proposing to the govenor (if not already) to lower the 85% TIS (truth in sentencing). Could be as soon as September that this change might take place, and it would affect those released after 2009. I suppose that it would be dependant on your felony class, and type of crime. I did find one article in the East Valley Tribune that states the following:
The Department of Corrections reported it could save more than $111 million by incarcerating fewer people.
Current law requires inmates to serve at least 85 percent of their sentence. The agency proposes to reduce that to 75 percent for those sentenced to the most serious crimes - and as little as 25 percent for those convicted of minor felonies.
Another plan would allow some people convicted of felonies not related to assault, rape, weapons charges and some other crimes to serve their time in home arrest programs.
And the department figures that it could save money if those people sentenced to one year or less in state prison instead serve their time in county jails. That move, however, will get a big fight from the counties as the savings to the state would end up being borne by them.
This isn't the first time such a proposal has surfaced. Gov. Janet Napolitano tried it last year, only to have it beaten back.
Gubernatorial press aide Paul Senseman said Arizonans should not read too much into the agency submissions. He said these are not what Brewer plans to ask lawmakers to cut.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/136881
I don't want to get my hopes up too much but this was brought to the legislators a few years back and it was shot down. Maybe with the budget crisis this year will be the year things actually go in our favor!
Again, please contact the local reps in your area or for that matter...in all areas!
votesmart.org
Let's try and get the word out there and stop the madness!!
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