Georgia leads the nation in placing its citizens on probation, a distinction that is now being studied by the state’s criminal justice reform experts, a federal report shows. The state’s probation population at the end of last year was 471,067, according to newly released numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Georgia’s number remains the highest in the nation – by far – in spite of a 9 percent decline over the previous year, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Georgia also topped the charts for its probation rate, which was quadruple the national rate and more than double the rate posted by any other state, the newspaper reported. The numbers include both felony and misdemeanor cases.
Some in Georgia say the numbers are significantly inflated, but others say the numbers reflect an overuse of probation in Georgia, where courts contract with private probation companies to supervise and collect payments from people who can’t afford to pay tickets on the day they go to court.
The Georgia General Assembly last year passed a bill requiring changes in the state’s misdemeanor probation system, following a state audit that documented numerous failings and abuses. The Georgia Supreme Court also shook up the system, with a ruling that forced the dismissal of thousands of probation cases that had been placed on hold for months or years when a probationer stopped reporting.
The dismissal of old cases prompted by the court decision led to the 9 percent drop in Georgia’s probation numbers in 2014, according to the federal report.
Comments