By The Oakland Press

There’s a lot on the Michigan Senate’s lame-duck agenda this month and just a few days left to get anything done. But one piece of legislation that should be acted on immediately is House Bill 4548.

Sponsored by State Rep. Paul Condino, D-Southfield, the bill addresses various aspects of the state’s criminal justice system. It would help make the system more efficient and subsequently help control the skyrocketing costs.

Michigan has the highest incarceration rate of any of the Great Lakes region states and the ninth highest in the nation. While to some this might be something to brag about, the state also has a rising recidivism rate, meaning more of those who are paroled eventually end up back behind bars.

Part of the reason Michigan’s incarceration rates are so high is that the average prison sentence in Michigan is 16 months longer than the national average and 19 percent longer than the Great Lakes average.

According to the Lansing-based Citizens Research Council, this system cost Michigan about $403 million in 2005 and caused the state to employ 4,700 more corrections employees.

The Michigan Department of Corrections is the largest program that state government operates directly, accounting for nearly 20 percent — $2 billion — of the current discretionary general fund budget and employing nearly one-third of the state’s classified work force.

House Bill 4548 is based on recommendations made by the Lansing-based Citizens Alliance on Prisons and Public Spending. The group advocates “six strategies for right-sizing Michigan’s prison population.”

“Some are longer-term and some are more immediate,” states the group’s Web site, capps-mi.org.

“Some require legislative action and some do not. All have Michigan precedents. None involve the early release of dangerous offenders.”

They include enforcing parole guidelines to increase paroles of low-risk offenders who have completed their minimum terms; reassessing the impact of sentencing guidelines to ensure that drug and property offenders are not incarcerated unnecessarily and that sentences for crimes against people are proportionate to the offense; reinstating good behavior and other disciplinary credits to reduce sentences; limiting prison returns for technical-parole violators with no new criminal conduct to one year or less; reinstituting parole for individuals serving life prison terms who pose little threat to the public; and expanding the Michigan Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative.

Obviously we don’t want hardened criminals placed back on the streets, but if the parole officials do their jobs then dangerous individuals won’t be among those freed.

The state needs to take a long look at ideas and programs to rehabilitate young offenders, treat those whose “crimes” are due to mental illness and reduce taxpayer expense in the process.

House Bill 4548 would help in this respect. It recently was passed by the House and is now in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is scheduled to meet today, Wednesday and Thursday.

A delay would serve no practical purpose so we urge action on it now.