2 weeks Ago
The North Dakota House has killed legislation that would force certain criminals to spend a large portion of their sentences behind bars. Rep. Lawrence Klemin R-Bismarck, speaks on Senate Bill 2128, focused on sentencing of criminal offenders, during a House floor session at the North Dakota State Capitol on Thursday.
Senate Bill 2128 failed Thursday in a vote of 41-52 after nearly two hours of debate. The bill, proposed by North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley, would require violent criminals, drug traffickers and sex offenders to serve at least 50% of their prison sentences before qualifying for parole. “The opponents of this legislation thought that was too much,” Wrigley told The Forum after the vote.
If the North Dakota Parole Board didn’t release them, those inmates would have to serve 85% of their sentence in prisons, under the bill’s original intent. They could not be sent to transitional facilities. The bill also would have made those convicted of simple assault on law enforcement, fleeing and preventing arrest serve punishments for those crimes on top of other offenses, instead of concurrently.
An amendment approved by the House took away minimum sentences for the assault and preventing arrest charges but left intact a 30-day minimum for fleeing. Wrigley proposed the bill in response to a rising trend of violent crime over the last decade. He and prosecutors said inmates were serving small portions of their sentences in prisons before the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation transferred them to minimum custody or transitional facilities.
That meant inmates could go into communities for approved reasons, including work release. Prosecutors noted cases of some inmates committing other crimes before they finished their prison sentences. The DOCR has the authority to place inmates in any of its facilities and said transitional housing must be counted as part of the sentence under law.
It said inmates serve roughly 50% of their sentences in its facilities, which includes transitional housing. The agency does not keep numbers on the amount of time violent criminals are in prison only. Transitional facilities help inmates develop life skills that allow them to return to society with a lower chance of recidivism, DOCR Director Colby Braun said.
Almost all inmates in the DOCR’s care would not qualify for transitional housing if the bill passed, Braun said. SB 2128 became one of the most heavily debated bills this session. The House spent almost all of its Thursday floor session discussing the bill.
There are “bad apples,” but there are others who need rehabilitation, said Rep. Donna Henderson, R-Calvin. The bill removes that ability to rehabilitate inmates for many offenses, said Rep.
Nels Christianson, R-Grand Forks. Rep. Nels Christianson, R-Grand Forks, speaks on Senate Bill 2128 during a House floor session at the North Dakota State Capitol on Thursday.
“These programs give inmates the opportunities to improve their lives and make a fresh start,” Christianson said. “They create hope in the future and give a new purpose in life.” The bill with its original intent would make "too many sweeping changes too quickly" without knowing its impacts, Christianson said.
"Voting against SB 2128 is not voting to be soft on crime," he said. "Opposing this bill is a conservative and fiscally responsible approach." The House failed amendments from Rep.
Lawrence Klemin, R-Bismarck, that would have gutted the original intent of the bill: the 50% rule and making violent criminals, drug traffickers and sex offenders spend most of their time in prisons only. Klemin, who is an attorney, also proposed a study on parole board practices. After his amendments failed, he asked his colleagues to fail the bill, study the DOCR and come back next session with more data.
“Then we can address these things realistically with more knowledge about what the real facts are and not a lot of hypotheticals and extreme examples,” Klemin said. North Dakota’s 85% law covers murder, manslaughter, Class B felony aggravated assault, kidnapping, gross sexual imposition by force, robbery and burglary involving a weapon or bodily injury, Klemin said. Braun said inmates convicted of violent offenses aren't moved into transitional facilities until the last six months of their sentence, though prosecutors and Wrigley contested those statements.
Drug trafficking and most sex offenses don’t fall under the current 85% rule. Rep. Steve Vetter, R-Grand Forks, speaks on Senate Bill 2128 during a House floor session at the North Dakota State Capitol on Thursday.
Rep. Pat Heinert, a Republican from Bismarck and former Burleigh County sheriff, acknowledged that prisons are full, but he suggested bringing crime victims into the legislative chambers. “We could fill up the Capitol with victims,” Heinert said.
“That’s who we’re supposed to be here to represent.” Heinert also said law enforcement, prosecutors and judges are close to losing hope in the justice system. "Do we want them to lose hope in our system?" he asked.
Opponents of the bill said it would further pressure already full prisons and jails. “We’re going to have to throw them in a tent or a tent city or something because there’s nowhere else for them to go,” said Rep. Steve Vetter, R-Grand Forks.
The DOCR emphasized the benefits of transitional facilities in lowering recidivism rates. “We appreciate the House's recognition of the vital role these facilities play in reducing crime and supporting continued services to prevent future victims,” the DOCR said in a statement to The Forum. Wrigley said he is disappointed in the result but will continue to push on the issue, even if it takes multiple sessions.
He said he was encouraged by a winning vote in the Senate — 28-18 — and substantial support in the House. “We’re going to continue to shed light on this,” he said. Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox!.
