The House Judiciary Committee took testimony on a measure dubbed the “truth in Sentencing” law.
The law would require someone sentenced to the state Corrections and Rehabilitation Department to serve 50 percent of his or her sentence behind bars before being eligible for parole, and 85 percent of the sentence behind bars if parole is denied.
State attorney general Drew Wrigley helped author the bill. He told the Committee crime rates in North Dakota are on the rise, and he believes the DOCR is sending some of these inmates to halfway houses, where they sometimes walk away and re-offend.
"There is no remaining debate about the misleading and dismissive treatment DOCR bureaucrats give to judicial sentencing orders in North Dakota," Wrigley told the Committee.
But Dr. Lisa Peterson, a licensed clinical psychologist from Bismarck, told the Committee sending some prisoners to halfway houses actually lessens the recidivism rate.
"It requires incarcerated adults to rise to the level of having the same responsibilities as free adults as much as possible," Peterson said. "It provides them with opportunities to grow in work ethic dependability, integrity and accountability, which are values I know we all hold dear as North Dakotans, frankly, what is lacking in the prison system."
The bill – Senate Bill 2128 – already passed the Senate. The House committee did not take immediate action.
