Prison is an important and necessary component of the criminal justice system. It is, in many cases, necessary to incarcerate offenders who pose a danger to society even with strict and modern monitoring. That being said, the state should supervise offenders outside the prison walls if the interests of public safety and liberty are best served by forgoing incarceration. When implemented effectively, probation keeps neighborhoods safer, saves money, and produces more successful outcomes for nondangerous offenders. When taking into account risk level, recidivism rates for individuals who are sentenced to community supervision (also known as probation) are lower than for those who are incarcerated.
Just the Facts: Local Government Spending
Despite billions in property tax relief provided by recent state legislatures, Texans’ property tax bills continue to increase due to unrestricted spending at the local level. Key points: City and county government spending continues to outstrip increases in both population and inflation. While the state government has constitutional and statutory spending limits, local governments do...