Governor's New Recidivism Reduction

Governor Ritter's Recidivism Reduction Package

Gov. Bill Ritter today presented the Colorado Criminal and Juvenile Justice Commission with his proposed 2009-10 crime-prevention and recidivism-reduction package, which is projected to save taxpayers $380 million over five years.

The package will be contained within Gov. Ritter's fiscal year 2009-10 budget proposal, which will be submitted to the legislature's Joint Budget Committee this weekend. Gov. Ritter and Budget Director Todd Saliman will hold a news conference about the entire budget proposal at 11 a.m. Sunday in the Governor's Office.

"This package represents a strong commitment to preventing crime, keeping the public safe and protecting communities," Gov. Ritter said. "It is also a commitment to solid fiscal policy and protecting taxpayer dollars. We face economic challenges unlike any we've ever seen. Now, more than ever, we must make the wisest investments possible that ultimately will save us hundreds of millions of dollars.

"This package does just that by making strategic investments in programs and services that will keep offenders from committing new crimes, from victimizing innocent people and from returning to prison at great taxpayer expense," Gov. Ritter said.

This will be the third year of significant recidivism-reduction initiatives under Gov. Ritter.