Tagged: probation

One day after Governor Jay Nixon (D) made his State of the State Address, the annual State of the Judiciary Address was delivered to Missouri lawmakers today.

Chief Justice Rick Teitelman kept his speech short, but did call for the General Assembly to pass changes to the state’s probation and parole system in order to ease Missouri’s prison population.

“I support your effort to help make sentencing practices more cost effective, helping Missouri to become, as Judge (former Chief Justice William) Price stressed so often and so eloquently, both tough and smart.”

A special task force is recommending changes to how Missouri handles people who are on parole or probation.

The recommendations presented Wednesday to an interim House committee include allowing people on probation or parole to have their supervision reduced by 30 days for every 30 days they comply with their requirements. The task force also recommended allowing probation and parole officers to order brief jail stays for those who violate their rules.