Brief Smart Reforms to Prison Time Served Requirements in Florida
Leah Sakala
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This report examines how adjustments to Florida’s length of stay requirements would reduce the state’s prison population with minimal impact on additional justice system contact. One in three people in the Florida prison population (34 percent), if released immediately, would experience no additional justice system contact during the balance of their original prison terms, even with no additional reentry support.  Adjustments to reduce time served requirements, including minor ones, would have a significant impact on reducing Florida prison population. If the time served requirement dropped from 85 percent to 80 percent, for example, the prison population would instantly decline 5 percent, and 98 percent of those released would experience no increased likelihood of rearrest. Drawing from the sentencing reform strategies of other states, the report concludes with recommendations for specific policy options that Florida could employ to revise its time served policies.

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Research Areas Crime, justice, and safety
Tags Corrections Courts and sentencing
Policy Centers Justice Policy Center