The Pew Charitable Trusts - State and Consumer Initiatives about Public Safety Performance Project

Bending the Curve: Juvenile Corrections Reform in Texas

Juvenile Corrections Reform in TexasDuring the past six years, Texas overhauled its juvenile corrections system, enacting a series of reforms that led to a significant reduction in the state level committed population and yielded millions of dollars in

State-Local Partnership in Ohio Cuts Juvenile Recidivism, Costs

Beginning in 1994, Ohio implemented RECLAIM Ohio, a performance based funding partnership between the state and local governments that expanded counties’ use of effective, cost efficient community based options for lower risk juvenile offenders. The program has helped cut recidivism

Public Safety in Oregon

Oregon’s prison population has more than quadrupled over the past 30 years, and since 2000 the state’s imprisonment rate has risen more than three times faster than the national average.

Public Safety in Georgia

With unanimous votes in the legislature, Georgia in May 2012 enacted a comprehensive set of sentencing and corrections reforms designed to improve public safety and curb rapid growth in the size and cost of its prison population.

Pew and Casey Applaud Georgia Leaders for Comprehensive Juvenile Justice Reform

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed into law today comprehensive legislation that will improve the state’s juvenile justice system by reducing youth recidivism rates and cutting costs to taxpayers.

U.S. Prison Count Continues to Drop

After nearly four decades of explosive growth, the U.S. prison population declined for two years in a row, according to the Justice Department.Inmate counts fell in about half the states in each year from 2009-10 and 2010-11.

Public Attitudes on the Juvenile Justice System in Georgia

This January 2013 issue brief contains information on a survey on public attitudes on the juvenile justice system in Georgia.

Public Safety in California

Public Safety Performance Project > State Work > California In 2011, the Supreme Court ordered California to reduce its prison population by 33,000 inmates within two years. In response, the state implemented what is likely

Public Safety in Vermont

Public safety in Vermont.

Public Safety in Wisconsin

Public safety in Wisconsin.

Public Safety in Virginia

Public safety in Virginia.

Public Safety in Texas

Public safety in Texas.

Public Safety in Ohio

Public safety in Ohio.

Public Safety in Rhode Island

Public safety in Rhode Island.

Public Safety in South Carolina

Public safety in South Carolina.

Public Safety in Nevada

Public safety in Nevada.

Public Safety in Michigan

Public safety in Michigan.

Public Safety in Illinois

Public safety in Illinois.

Public Safety in Louisiana

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Public Safety in Alabama

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Public Safety in Arizona

Public safety in Arizona.

Public Safety in Arkansas

Public safety in Arkansas

State Legislators on Sentencing and Corrections Reforms

Six state legislative leaders reflect on how they successfully enacted comprehensive sentencing and corrections reforms using a bipartisan, interbranch working group and focusing on data and research to craft policies that met their unique challenges.

California Voters Pass Proposition 36 to Reform “Three Strikes” Law

Adam Gelb of The Pew Center on the States released the following statement today after Proposition 36 passed with a large majority of the vote in California. The referendum will modify elements of California's "Three Strikes" Law, which was first approved by the state's voters in 1994.

Pew Praises State Leaders for Justice Reinvestment Bill

The Pew Center on the States released the following statement today regarding Governor Tom Corbett’s signing of House Bill 135. The bill is the second half of the Justice Reinvestment reform package that was enacted through Senate Bill 100 in June (now “Act 122”) to protect public safety, hold offenders accountable and control corrections costs in Pennsylvania.

Public Safety in Kansas

Learn more about public safety in Kansas.

Public Safety in Hawaii

Learn more about public safety in Hawaii.

Public Safety in West Virginia

Learn more about public safety in West Virginia.

Public Safety in Missouri

Learn more about public safety in Missouri.

Public Safety in Pennsylvania

Learn more about public safety in Pennsylvania.

Public Safety Performance Project: Frequently Asked Questions

To learn more about the Public Safety Performance Project, read our 2012 FAQ.

Governing Magazine: The Power of Incentives for Performance

Corrections is one area in which a handful of states and their local governments are seeing big improvements in results—and saving millions in the process—through a novel funding approach.

Positive Results Coming From HB463

The Times Tribune: Changes in the way some criminal offenders are sentenced, incarcerated and paroled have already saved the state money and most of the people affected—prosecutors, defense attorneys, county governments—say the new law is working well.

Public Safety in South Dakota

An overview of public safety in South Dakota.

Editorial: Florida Must Get Smart with Prisons

Florida has taken "lock 'em up and throw away the key" to an unaffordable extreme, wasting money without providing more security. The state has been on a prison building binge in recent years while cutting state support to higher education.

Gov. Deal to Reform Commission: Look at All Aspects of Juvenile Justice

Gov. Nathan Deal urged the judges, prosecutors, sheriffs and legislators serving on a criminal-justice reform commission Monday to consider every part of the juvenile justice system for possible overhaul. I want to charge you to look at that from the inception, and you will have the assistance of state officials," he said.

Rising Cost of Incarceration Alarms South Dakota Officials

A South Dakota committee will examine rising prison costs and the state’s exceptionally high lockup rate in an effort to reform the criminal justice system and save money.

Gov. Deal Wants Review of Juvenile Justice System

Gov. Nathan Deal urged judges, prosecutors, sheriffs and legislators serving on a criminal-justice reform commission Monday to consider every part of the juvenile justice system for overhaul.

Panel Begins Work on Slowing Prison Growth

Gov. Nathan Deal's criminal justice reform council on Monday began its work to find money-saving ways to sentence and manage the state's criminal population.

After 2 Years of Declines, Philadelphia Prison Populaton Rises

Philadelphia's prison population is on the rise again. The Pew Chartiable Trusts Philadelphia Research Initiative reported Thursday that 8,732 people were behind bars in June, an 8.5 percent increase from the same point last year.

2012 Georgia Public Safety Reform

In May 2012, Georgia's General Assembly unanimously passed legislation, House Bill 1176, enacting a comprehensive package of sentencing and corrections reforms that will save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars over the next five years while improving public safety.

Prison Overcrowding Study Begins

West Virginia is getting assistance from two national organizations to help find answers to the state's prison overcrowding problem.

Editorial: Cut Prison Terms to Save Funds

Michigan could save millions of dollars in its nearly $2 billion Corrections budget by shaving the prison terms of inmates.

Editorial: Sensible Sentences for Nonviolent Offenders

The enormous strain prison costs put on state budgets has led some conservatives and liberals to do something sensible together.

The High Cost of Corrections in America

Despite the massive increase in the size and cost of America's correctional system, the national recidivism rate remains stubbornly high.

Video: More Time Behind Bars

Public Safety Performance Project Director Adam Gelb is interviewed on MSNBC's "The Dylan Ratigan Show"

State Fact Sheets: Time Served

The length of time served in prison has increased markedly over the last two decades. See state-specific data in our collection of state fact sheets.

Average Prison Stay Grew 36 percent in two Decades

For petty offenders and violent criminals alike, the length of a prison stay increased by more than a third over the past two decades, a period of time in which the prison population doubled, according to a report by the Pew Center on the States.

Time Served

The length of time served in prison has increased markedly over the last two decades. Prisoners released in 2009 served an average of nine additional months in custody, or 36 percent longer, than offenders released in 1990.

New Pew Study Finds 36 Percent Increase in Prison Time Served

Prisoners released in 2009 served an average of nine additional months in custody, or 36 percent longer, than offenders released in 1990, according to a report released today by the Pew Center on the States’ Public Safety Performance Project.