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Sen. Curtis Trent, a Republican from Springfield, introduces a bill in the Senate on Feb. 12, 2024 (Annelise Hanshaw\/Missouri Independent).<\/p>\n
A group of bills standardizing mandatory minimum prison terms and repealing conditional release provisions was debated by a Missouri Senate committee on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The Senate Judiciary Committee discussed three bills, sponsored by Republican Sens. Curtis Trent of Springfield, Jill Carter of Granby and Joe Nicola of Grain Valley, which include identical provisions for restructuring prison time requirements.<\/p>\n
Currently, the amount of prison time required to serve before parole is based on the specific charge received. These bills would standardize prison time to a range based on the class of the felony conviction, rather than the specific charge.<\/p>\n
Prisoners convicted of class A felonies, such as first-degree murder, would serve at least 60% to 80% of their prison term. As felonies decrease in class, the percentage range decreases as well. This creates what Trent calls a \u201cfixed minimum parole eligibility requirement\u201d for prison time.<\/p>\n
Trent said these bills give attorneys, judges, the public and \u201cespecially victims,\u201d a clear and predictable outcome.<\/p>\n
Locke Thompson, a prosecuting attorney from Cole County, testified in favor of the bill and said this would lead to more transparency.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I\u2019m trying to tell the victim how long their attacker is going to go away, unless there is a minimum set in the specific statute, it\u2019s really, really hard, if not impossible,\u201d Thompson said.<\/p>\n
Conditional release occurs once a set percentage of a prison sentence has been served, and it mandates that a prisoner be released under supervision unless there is a reason barring their release. All prisoners have a required period of up to five years at the end of their sentences, during which they can be supervised under conditional release until their time is served. All of the bills heard on Wednesday would eliminate mandated conditional release.<\/p>\n
Mallory Rusch, executive director of Empower Missouri, an anti-poverty advocacy organization, testified against the bills. She said these bills go too far in repealing conditional release.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoing away with conditional release without simultaneously reforming the state\u2019s parole process, we believe, would have a lot of unintended consequences,\u201d Rusch said.<\/p>\n
Rusch added that conditional release is where prisoners can undergo supervised rehabilitation and acclimate to living in a community outside of prison.<\/p>\n
Rusch also said she is concerned about the legislation\u2019s reliance on parole boards<\/p>\n
\u201cThe proposed changes to the sentencing structure rely heavily on the parole board functioning fairly and effectively,\u201d Rusch said. \u201cWithout any reforms being made to that process, while implementing these bills, we think it\u2019s going to come at a very large cost to the state.\u201d<\/p>\n