STATE'S RECIDIVISM RATE DROPS

The percentage of Texas inmates who are returned to prison after being
released has dramatically declined since 1992.

Almost half - 49.1 percent - of the inmates released from Texas prisons in
1992 were back behind bars within three years, the Texas Criminal Justice
Policy Council reported.

However, a new study tracking Texas prisoners released in 1997 shows that
only 30.7 percent had returned to prison or state jail in three years - a
37.5 percent decline in five years.

The Texas Criminal Justice Policy Council, which provides analysis to the
governor and legislature, released its latest three-year study Sept. 6.

While there is no single reason for the reduction in revolving-door
prisoners, Texas's prison education system plays a major role, said Dr.
Harry R. Hueston II, professor of criminal justice at West Texas A&M
University and a retired police chief.

The Texas school system behind prison bars, called the Windham School
District, works well, Hueston said.

"Prisoners need to have a high school education," Hueston said.

In general, inmates who earn a high school degree in prison have lower
recidivism rates than those who do not receive a degree, according to
another study released in August by the Texas Criminal Justice Policy
Council. Even inmates who have a ninth-grade education have lower
return-to-prison rates than those with a fourth-grade education.

The recidivism rate is the percentage of prisoners who are released from
prison, then return behind bars.

Alma McArthur of Amarillo has served as principal at the William P. Clements
Unit's Windham prison school, principal of the Nat J. Neal Unit and now as a
school counselor at Clements.

Today, the Windham schools are more accountable for the teaching they do and
the results achieved, McArthur said.

The schools inside the prisons use outside volunteers and work to motivate
the inmates.

"School has not been a focus," McArthur said of the inmates. "This is their
last chance."

The Windham School District is funded by the Texas Education Agency but
works with the Texas prison system, said Bambi Kiser, a Windham spokeswoman.
The statewide school district has 1,546 employees.

Amarillo attorney Selden Hale, who served as chairman of the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice during the early 1990s, said he does not
think the low recidivism rate will last.

Drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs have been cut back inside prisons,
and that will be a factor in rising recidivism, Hale said.

The massive new prisons expansion program, which started under former Gov.
Ann Richards, ended overcrowding in Texas prisons. That meant not just the
worst offenders were incarcerated, but also a new mix of inmates, resulting
in lower recidivism, Hale said.

Teaching prisoners a trade has long been touted as a route to
rehabilitation, and Windham also offers vocational training behind bars.

But the Texas Criminal Justice Policy Council report released in August
found that earning a vocational certificate in prison does not have a
significant impact on recidivism.

"Little difference was noted even after considering age and type of
offense," Tony Fabelo, executive director of the policy council, wrote for
the report.

Statistically, being 35 years old or older cuts down an inmate's chances of
returning to prison, without regard to education, according to the study.

"Older inmates have the lowest educational achievement scores as well as the
lowest recidivism rates," according to the report.

No long-term, complete study is available on the recidivism rate of inmates
who were involved in religious activities, Fabelo said. A limited study of
201 New York prisoners, followed for one year after release, found that
inmates most active in Bible studies were significantly less likely to be
re-arrested compared to other inmates.

The study was published in the March 1997 edition of the Justice Quarterly /
Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

Today's 30.7 percent recidivism for all released Texas prison inmates is the
state's "lowest," Fabelo said. Recidivism records released by Texas Criminal
Justice Policy Council date back to 1986.