Virginia spends more than $1.6 billion a year on its department of corrections, and some of that money pays to monitor people who were sentenced to probation.
Two Republicans in the General Assembly passed a bill that could reduce the time under supervision for those who take certain steps, but the governor has yet to sign it.
Some of the 62,000 people on probation have served time for crimes and been released. Others were spared a prison sentence on the condition that they stay out of trouble, and all could be locked up if they break certain rules according to reform advocate Shawn Weneta.
“They’re not breaking a law. They’re not committing a crime, but they’re breaking a rule," he explains. "They didn’t show up for a meeting. They moved without permission. They didn’t show up for a drug test.”
But a bill now on the governor’s desk would make it possible for probationers to be released early if they take some positive steps: having stable housing and employment, participating in substance abuse programs, mental health treatments or vocational programming.
The American Probation and Parole Association recommends a caseload of no more than fifty people, but Virginia officers oversee an average of 95. If we reduced that number, Weneta argues, more time and attention could be focused on people who really need supervision, and those on probation would have an incentive to do the right things.
“It’s really an opportunity for them to take the initiative for their own success," Weneta says.
He notes similar changes have been approved in red states like Texas, Louisiana, South Carolina, Missouri and Florida with no increase in crime, and the measure was endorsed by professional associations that represent probation officers in Virginia.
