Credit: Florida Department of Corrections
As she has done virtually every year since being elected to the Florida House in 2018, Tampa Democratic Rep. Dianne Hart has filed legislation designed to incentivize good behavior by the incarcerated and potentially save hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars at the same time.
Her proposal (HB 183) would reduce the minimum sentence that a defendant must serve in Florida prisons from 85% of its original length to 72%.
The legislation says that the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) “is authorized to grant deductions from sentences in the form of outstanding deed gain-time, good behavior time, and rehabilitation credits in order to encourage satisfactory prisoner behavior, to provide incentive for prisoners to participate in productive activities, and to reward prisoners who perform outstanding deeds or services.”
Gain-time is a tool the FDC uses to encourage good behavior and motivate program and work participation.
Most states have parole release in which judges impose a sentencing range or maximum sentence, and parole boards have some degree of discretion in determining release dates. The state of Florida eliminated parole for most inmates in 1983, becoming one of 16 states that do not allow certain offenders to serve the remainder of their court-imposed sentences in the community under supervision.
In previous bills, Hart has proposed reducing the minimum reduction in gain-time from 85% to 65%.
The Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research, which evaluates policy for the Legislature conducted a study of Hart’s 2019 legislation. The office determined that after five years the bill would result in a reduction of 7,266 inmate beds and save $441 million.