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Press Release
For Immediate Release:
January 7, 2004
Contact:
Christina Deibel or Linda Weyandt, (330) 535-8116
Decrease in prison population attributed to community corrections programs
The January 7th, 2004 edition of the Columbus Dispatch is reporting that Ohio's prison population is 43,970 which is a drop of 1,314 inmates and a 2.9 percent decline from this time last year. Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) Director Reginald Wilkinson told the Columbus Dispatch that Ohio's criminal justice system has focused on shifting nonviolent offenders to prison alternatives, such as community corrections facilities and halfway houses, instead of locking them up in costly state prisons. He attributes the use of community corrections programs as one of the contributing factors to the decline of the prison population. Summit County has benefited from community corrections programs since 1981 when Oriana House began operating a program for drunken driving offenders. Today, the nonprofit, community corrections and chemical dependency treatment agency operates more than 20 programs, including halfway houses, that provide a sanction while assisting offenders in developing the skills they need to become productive members of the community. Oriana House Executive Vice President Bernie Rochford said Oriana House is internationally, nationally, and locally recognized as a progressive leader in the areas of rehabilitative community corrections and drug and alcohol treatment. "Summit County is fortunate to have a history of community leaders who saw the value and benefits of a cohesive community corrections program. Our programs didn't evolve overnight. They were developed through the collaboration of many people involved in the local, state, and federal criminal justice system who all had community safety, rehabilitation, and cost savings in mind," said Rochford. While Summit County has always supported the use of community corrections programs, Rochford said utilization of these programs is increasing throughout the state.
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