An alarming trend is increasing in the Show-Me State: The rate of violent crimes, a rapidly growing female prison population and the overpopulation of prisons and jails driven by recidivism.
The female prison population in Missouri has grown more than any other state in the nation over the last several years. Almost 85 percent of people sent to prison in Missouri are remanded due to a revocation resulting from parole violations or for committing another crime upon release. At this rate of growth, with our current prison population, Missouri will have to spend hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in order to house and maintain our increasing prison population. Most importantly, our public safety suffers when these trends continue to rise. I have a keen interest in our prison operations as a result of correctional facilities in the 33 rd Senatorial District; located in Fordland and Licking.