State lawmakers say legislation overhauling the state’s criminal code has garnered broad support from criminal justice groups – including prosecutors and public defenders. The comprehensive effort is now being considered by the full House.
The three-year effort – led by the state’s Criminal Code Evaluation Commission, composed of legislators, judges and attorneys – has produced a new sentencing structure. Current law divides felonies into four levels, A through D. Legislation would divide them into six levels, 1 through 6.
Representative Matt Pierce (D-Bloomington) says the commission went line-by-line through the code, addressing each crime. He says that will bring consistency that had been lost since the 1970s, when the criminal code was rewritten.
“All these criminal laws were being looked at in isolation, one at a time, over 30 or 40 years. And as that process rolled out, you ended up with totally disproportionate crimes. You’d have some drug offenders getting much stiffer penalties than violent rapists.”
Changes proposed in the bill would also require offenders to serve a greater amount of their sentence. Current law allows felons to reduce their sentence by 50% – for every day of good behavior, they get credit for a second day. The proposed legislation would require offenders to serve 75% of their sentence.
“For every three good days you serve then you get one day credit," says Representative Greg Steuerwald (R-Danville). "We’ve also reduced the credit time you can earn for getting a college degree from four years to two.”