Kurt Erickson
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A plan to loosen mandatory minimum sentencing laws for many nonviolent criminals won preliminary approval Tuesday in the Missouri House.
The legislation would allow judges to make exceptions to a state law requiring offenders to serve 40, 50 or 80 percent of their prison terms, depending on whether they have previous prison convictions.
Rep. Cody Smith, R-Carthage, who is sponsoring the proposal, said judges would instead weigh the person’s character, chances of rehabilitation and whether a mandatory minimum prison term was necessary to protect the public.
Inmates could not be granted shorter sentences for offenses involving serious physical force, firearms or most sexual crimes.
Estimates show the changes could save the state up to $3 million by 2023 based on the number of offenders who don’t serve a minimum sentence and the reduced number of years.
The Missouri Department of Corrections estimates that out of the 1,773 offenders who had been required to serve a minimum prison term last year, 552 — or 31 percent — could be released earlier.
Smith backed similar legislation in 2018. It won support in the House but did not advance in the Senate.
The measure comes as other states and the federal government are considering more lenient prison terms for some drug offenders and other low-level criminals to lower the prison population.
President Donald Trump signed a law last month reducing prison sentences for some federal drug crimes and boosting prison rehabilitation programs.
Missouri’s prison population peaked at 33,243 in September 2017 but has since fallen to 30,260, allowing the state to announce the closure of Crossroads Correctional Center in Cameron.
Smith’s legislation has support from Democrats. But Republicans who control the chamber turned down an amendment offered by Rep. Brandon Ellington, D-Kansas City, that would have allowed for the release of inmates over the age of 65 under certain conditions.
The measure could come up for a final vote in the House next week. If approved, it would then go to the Senate for further debate.
The legislation is House Bill 113.
———
©2019 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch