Expert urges data‑driven sentencing, graduated sanctions and reentry investments to slow prison growth

Mark Levin, chief policy counsel at the Council on Criminal Justice, briefed the committee on drivers of Montana’s rising prison population and evidence‑based policy options to limit growth while maintaining public safety.

Levin said the state’s prison population has grown faster than its general population since 2000, and that admissions, revocations (probation and parole failures) and sentence lengths are primary drivers. He recommended steps other states have used to reduce incarceration pressure: graduated sanctions and capped lengths for revocations of purely technical violations; earned‑time and program‑completion credits for incarcerated individuals; pre‑release certification for IDs and driver’s licenses so returning citizens can access jobs and housing immediately; expanded problem‑solving courts and drug courts in rural districts; and targeted investments to improve clearance rates for violent crime.

Levin also urged lawmakers to adopt longer fiscal‑note horizons so the full cost of sentencing changes (decades in some cases) can be seen and to build better, granular data on revocation reasons to distinguish technical from new‑offense revocations. Committee members asked for staff to assemble data on existing programs, outcomes and DOC program wait lists to identify gaps and possible pilots.