Smart Justice Facts: Cost Savings

• Florida taxpayers spent $2.4 billion to incarcerate more than 102,000 inmates in the 2010-2011 fiscal year

• One out of every nine dollars in Florida’s general revenue state budget is spend on criminal justice and corrections

• During the first decade of this century, almost 41,000 individuals were admitted to prison for technical probation violations, at a cost to the state of more than $1.3 billion

• Florida taxpayers spent more than $300 million to incarcerate people for drug offenses in 2010-2011

• The costs imposed by mandatory minimum prison sentences was almost $100 million

• This reduced recidivism saves taxpayers $40 million per year compared to the costs of incarceration.

• Five of six Floridians would support major changes in the system that could send fewer non-violent offenders into prison, instead looking to cheaper, more effective forms of punishment that would save taxpayer dollars.

• One of out every nine dollars in General Revenue spent by the State of Florida is consumed by criminal justice and corrections – 11.1%

• Prison admissions for drug possession in FY 2011 cost Florida taxpayers more than $59 million

• Almost 2,000 juveniles (under 18) were admitted to adult prisons in FY 2010, costing taxpayers more than $200 million. More than 900 individuals were sent to prison that year for non-violent crimes they committed before their 18^th birthday.

• Individuals admitted to prison for crimes they committed before their 18^th birthday  are 58% more likely to return to prison than those incarcerated for crimes committed as adults.

• In FY 2011, Florida taxpayers spent $313 million on the incarceration of more than 16,000 people for drug offenses.