Report: Virginia recidivism rate remains among lowest in the country
Published Monday, May. 24, 2021, 6:48 pm
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Virginia, for the fifth year in a row, is in the top two states nationally with its three-year prison recidivism rate, at 23.9 percent, second only to South Carolina’s rate of 21.9 percent.
Of the 12,551 state responsible inmates released from incarceration in Virginia in fiscal year 2016, 2,997 were re-incarcerated within three years.
Virginia waits at least four years to calculate the three-year re-incarceration rate to ensure all court orders are included.
Virginia’s Recidivism Rate Remains Among the Lowest in the Country
RICHMOND Governor Ralph Northam today announced that Virginia continues to have one of the lowest recidivism rates in the country at 23.9 percent. This is the fifth year in a row that the Commonwealth has had the lowest or second lowest recidivism rate in the nation. Recidivism refers to an individual committing a new offense within a specified follow-up period that results in a new sentence.
Virginia’s recidivism rate remains among the lowest of the 42 states that report re-incarceration of state responsible inmates within three years of their release, second only to South Carolina’s rate of 21.9 percent.
Vigil Planned For Corrections Officers, Staff Who Died During Pandemic
This Wednesday April 1, 2020 file photo shows The Correctional Center for Women where several women have tested positive for COVID-19 at the facility in Goochland, Va. (Photo: Steve Helber/AP)
Prisons and jails have been hit especially hard by the pandemic. At least 2,500 people who are incarcerated throughout the country have died. The virus also killed 218 corrections officers and 41 non-custody employees, according to One Voice United, a Michigan-based advocacy group for correctional officers and staff. The organization is hosting a virtual vigil Friday, where they will read the names of officers and staff who died.