State's Prison Recidivism Rate Tops National Average

By Dan Gorenstein on Tuesday, December 15, 2009.

New research shows over the past several years the state’s recidivism rate has surpassed the national average.

New Hampshire Public Radio’s Dan Gorenstein reports.

In 2003, 40% of the inmates who left New Hampshire prisons found their way back.

By 2005, that rate had jumped to 51%, well above the national average of 40%.

A team of researchers from the Council of State Governments Justice Center have found that 57% of the people who entered prison this year either violated probation or parole.

Department of Corrections Commissioner Bill Wrenn says the the numbers suggest there aren’t sufficient services for inmates with substance abuse and mental health problems.

TAPE: I’ve been saying for a long time, we can do a great job in the prison system...and getting them ready to go back to the community, but if they go to the community and there are no services it’s like we are walking off a cliff.

The Council’s Justice Center is working with top officials from all three branches of government to reform the state’s probation and parole systems.

The group is expected to issue legislative recommendations in January.