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The sentencing reform package is projected to save taxpayers $264 million in prison spending over the next five years. The legislation, which takes effect July 1, establishes alternatives to incarceration for low-level, non-violent drug and property offenders and reserves expensive prison beds for the most dangerous offenders.
The initiative is part of Deal's criminal justice reform agenda, which includes $10 million in funding for "accountability courts" that require defendants to work, seek treatment and stay sober.
Deal said those special courts will save the state money through lower recidivism, but they will also save lives and families. Deal's son, Jason, is a superior court judge in Hall and Dawson counties and oversees drug courts there. Deal said he and his wife, Sandra, who was also at the bill signing, had attended the program's graduation ceremonies.
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