Georgia DA Joe Hendrix Speaks to Gilmer Tea Party

Georgia District Attorney Joe Hendrix spoke to the Gilmer County Tea Party Tuesday about sentencing reform and other current law enforcement issues raised by the ongoing state budget crisis.

Criminal Justice System: an Outline

Mr. Hendrix, who is the elected District Attorney of the Appalachian Judicial Circuit of Pickens, Gilmer, and Fannin Counties, opened his speech with a basic outline of how the state court and sentencing system works. I’ve put together the following graphic based on his presentation. As you can see, modern American criminal justice is no simple – or, more to the point, inexpensive – process:

As Mr. Hendrix explained, state district attorneys are elected constitutional officers who answer only to their constituents; they are not accountable to the Governor or Attorney General.

Recovery Grant

Mr. Hendrix reported that his office has used a Criminal Justice Improvement Grant, which was granted as part of the stimulus package, to implement a new computer data entry system.

The automated information exchange system links the case and arrest files of local law enforcement departments with the DA office. “The system has improved the efficiency of operations for the Georgia court system”, Mr. Hendrix said.

General Budget Issues

As Mr. Hendrix explained, budget cuts have already taken their toll on the state criminal justice system: DA offices throughout the state have had to furlough state personnel and hold off on buying equipment; crime labs have been closed and have been forced to offer restricted services; and the GBI and State Patrol have seen a reduction in their forces.

The growing challenge of caring for the mentally ill has also been brought into sharp focus by the tightening state budget. Mr. Hendrix mentioned the closing of Northwest Regional Hospital, which houses the most severely ill mental health patients in the area.

Sentencing Reform

As state budget crises continue to worsen, the issue of sentencing reform has become a topic of intense debate across the country.

In order to cut state budgets, there has been a growing legislative push to reduce expensive prison populations. As a professional law enforcement officer tasked with protecting the public from dangerous criminals, Mr. Hendrix is reluctant to support substantial releases of prisoners.

To explain his point of view, the DA presented some statistics regarding the current prison population:

• Of the total number of people in prison, ½ are in for crimes of violence.
• Almost 15% are in for sex offenses.
• The remaining 35% are in for property crimes and drug offenses.

The 35% of the prison population not serving time for violent crimes or sex offenses is generally agreed upon as the only pool of inmates to be considered for release.

However, as Mr. Hendrix explained, there are problems with the idea of releasing a large portion of this 35% back into society. For one, most inmates admitted for drug offenses are serving relatively short terms of 2 years or less. Releasing them, the DA argued, would have less of an impact on long-term prison populations than some might hope.

Perhaps the strongest piece of evidence Mr. Hendrix presented in his argument against releasing prisoners regarded prior convictions of new inmates. According to a survey conducted by his office, the average number of felony convictions for first-time inmates is 3.8. That is, by the time the average prisoner is first put in jail, he has already committed 4 felonies.

“How high can that average get? Five? Eight?”, Mr. Hendrix asked. He went on to explain that he does believe money can be saved in the corrections system, but that the current standard for who is incarcerated is quite low enough.

Citizens Speak

Mr. Hendrix wrapped up his speech by answering a question from Gilmer Tea Party Communications Director Jack Smith. Mr. Smith asked, “Based on the present financial crisis that most municipalities are facing, how do you see that affecting your office in the next couple of years?”

Mr. Hendrix explained that the GBI, State Patrol, and local law enforcement agencies have already faced cuts of experienced personnel due to increased pressure on seasoned officers to retire.

“That is what’s hurting us right now; we’re losing a lot of experienced people. There is no substitute in that line of work for experience. People are being told to do more with less…and in this line of work there is a limit to that.”