Senate approves bill targeting probation rate

The state Senate unanimously approved legislation that’s meant to address some criminal justice concerns, including the state’s high probation rate.

First-time offenders who are sentenced to probation for any of about two dozen nonviolent property or drug offenses would get a chance at leaving probation earlier, under one of the bills.

It says that probation sentences for those crimes would include a “behavioral incentive date” no more than three years out from the date of the sentence. Under the bill, if the offender pays restitution, has complied with his terms and stayed out of trouble by that date, the court will be asked to end the probation.

In 2014, Georgia had 6,161 probationers for every 100,000 people. The national average was 1,560.

The bill is one of a trio built on recommendations from the Georgia Council on Criminal Justice Reform, a group appointed by Republican Gov. Nathan Deal. For the last five years, the Legislature has passed major criminal justice changes endorsed by the governor.

The other bills include changes on several things, including how juvenile courts handle young people who are incompetent to stand trial and how courts handle bench warrants for traffic citations. If a person fails to appear for a traffic violation, courts would be required to send a second notice to the person before issuing a bench warrant, under one of the bills.

“They are, as in the past, they are common sense reform for our criminal justice system and also taking a very smart approach to the allocation of resources,” said state Sen. John F. Kennedy, R-Macon, sponsor of all three bills.

After the Wednesday Senate approval, Senate bills 174, 175 and 176 now move to the state House.

This story was originally published March 3, 2017 at 11:28 AM with the headline "Senate approves bill targeting probation rate."