Chairs Meeting/Training Tentative Agenda Posted

You can now find the Tentative Agenda for the 2010 APAI Chairs Meeting/Training on the APAI site or HERE!

2011 ATC Conference Theme Announced

The APAI Exeutive Committee is happy to announce the theme for the 2011 Annual Training Conference - COLLABORATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS: THE KEYS TO SUCCESS! Please join us in San Antonio for the ATC!

State's plans to send prisoners to county jails worry officials

Low-risk inmates would , police groups hopes to save money by shipping low-risk inmates

SACRAMENTO — The state’s plans to ship low-risk prisoners to local jails could cost counties revenue and are raising fears that inmates may be released early.

Transferring non-sex offender prisoners to county jails are centerpieces of dueling plans put forward by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Senate Democrats as they scramble to close a $19 billion budget gap.

The foundation of both proposals is to save the state money by offering counties incentives — including cash and greater alternative sentencing authority — to accept more prisoners.

The initiatives are drawing resistance from San Diego County supervisors, statewide law enforcement groups and Republican lawmakers.  Read More...

Inmates' treatment bottleneck means delays in release

CONCORD – State prison inmates trying to earn parole, many of them with alcohol and drug abuse backgrounds, face a shortage of treatment programs they need to attend as a condition of being set free.

Alan Coburn, a member of the Adult Parole Board, told a committee studying parole issues yesterday that because treatment options are few, many inmates ready for release remain behind bars for up to a year while they wait their turn.  Read More...

Michigan has lower rates of felons that go to prison than other Great Lakes states, prosecutors say

KALAMAZOO — There is a perception that Michigan prisons are full of low-level criminals whose release would reduce both overcrowding and state budget constraints, but the reality is, “it takes a lot to get sent to prison,” a local prosecutor said.

Nationally, 40 percent of felony convictions result in a prison term, said Jeff Fink, Kalamazoo County’s prosecuting attorney, citing research released last year by the Council of State Governments Justice Center. In Michigan the rate was 23 percent.  Read More...

Agencies: New sex laws will help abuse prevention

OCEAN CITY -- Uncle John has been taking his nephew Steve on camping trips every weekend. The family knows John has a history of being a sexual predator, and they suspect he may be grooming the child for abuse.

In the recent past, Social Services could only help that child once it suspected he had been mistreated.

Not anymore. New laws passed this year in the wake of the horrific abuse and murder of a Salisbury girl address loopholes in the system that deals with sexual predators.  Read More...

Dallas County's alternative sentencing program lets low-level offenders do time at home

What's the difference between a stark jail cell and the comforts of home? For a few lucky Dallas County criminals, the answer is nothing.

Under the county's alternative sentencing plan, certain low-level offenders discharge their sentences under ankle-monitored house arrest, giving them the opportunity to keep their jobs, eat home-cooked meals and enjoy the interaction of family and friends.

"I think the program is better than jail," said Arletha Baker, who was released from the program's restrictions recently. "You get to touch your family. ... I have a very helpful family."

Alternative sentencing is also helping Dallas County's bottom line. Since its inception Sept. 1, it has saved the county $366,016. And officials expect that figure to reach $400,000 by the initiative's first anniversary in two weeks.  Read More...