ISER study featured in Anchorage Daily News article 'Alaska ranks high in rate of criminals returning to prison'

More than half of all Alaska prisoners released in 2004 returned to prison within three years, according to a national study released April 13 by the Pew Center on the States.

At a recidivism rate of 50.4 percent, Alaska joined five other states -- Minnesota, California, Missouri, Illinois and Vermont -- where convicts are most likely to re-offend. The study tracked prisoners until 2007 and included more than 5,800 ex-cons in Alaska who were caught committing new crimes or breaking the conditions of their release before heading back behind bars.

Alaska could save $24.6 million per year if the state shaved its recidivism rate by 10 percent, the study said.

The University of Alaska Anchorage's Institute of Social and Economic Research estimated that a 10 percent drop in future prison populations could be achieved by spending $4 million a year on expanding current rehabilitation programs.

But spending more state money in the short term isn't necessarily the answer, Gutierrez said. If the department proves that its new programs are working, more funding might be warranted, she said.

"It's not so much that we necessarily need more money; we need to look at how we spend that money, and maybe reinvest it up front to provide some of the needed rehabilitative services so that these people don't keep coming back, in and out," Gutierrez said.

Alaska spends about $44,000 a year per inmate to house people in prisons, jails and halfway houses, ISER reported in 2009.

Read more on the Anchorage Daily News website.