By Tony McVeigh
Frankfort, KY – The first major reform of the Kentucky Penal Code, since the 1970's, has been signed into law by Gov. Steve Beshear. The legislation emphasizes treatment, probation and parole, over incarceration, for non-violent drug offenders. Senate President David Williams says it will ease prison overcrowding and save the state 422-million dollars over ten years.
"And you notice the money that's going to be saved here, and one of the things that this task force really insisted, is that we plow this money back in, to make sure that we have an opportunity to cut down on recidivism - the folks that come back into the judicial system and to their own disappointment, the disappointment of their families and to the great cost to themselves and the people of the great Commonwealth of Kentucky."
The legislation, which had broad, bipartisan support, cleared the House 96-1 and the Senate 38-0. The Pew Center on the States in Washington was instrumental in development of the far-reaching reforms.