Currently, there are more than 1.1 million Missouri citizens over the age of 60, and estimates suggest that older adults will outnumber minors for the first time by 2030.
As the agreed-upon language states for HB 1545, using a tiered system based on age and time served, would reduce existing felony sentence percentage requirements by about 10 percent. It's important to note that this bill is the same as HB 1344 introduced in 2023.
In addition to justice reform, it is clear that this legislation's predominant goal is to reduce increasing costs in Missouri's prison system. At the end of December 2023, there were over 1,000 people over the age of 60 who had been incarcerated for longer than 15 years in Missouri.
There were 3,006 offenders with minimum prison terms eligible for an age-based adjustment prior to FY 2034 under the proposed legislation.
According to a fiscal note from the Committee on Legislative Research Oversight Division in Missouri, the savings cost of provisions relating to minimum sentences—which includes housing, correctional staff, and medical care for aging people in prison will drastically increase to over $800 by FY 2025 and $2.5 million by FY 2034 and the state budget. These numbers are based on the reduction of 258 offenders in prison over the next 10 years. The report was released in Feb. 2024.
The bill introduced by Rep. Bill Allen (R-Dist. 17), aims to provide a 'safe, measured approach to parole consideration for the highest cost, lowest risk population'. Rep. Aaron McMullen was a co-sponsor.
Bo Cornelius and Bobby Bostic, two older formerly incarcerated adults,testified before the Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee in February, giving statements on the issues older incarcerated people are facing, and the urgency of revising geriatric parole standards.
In a statement, Rep. Allen said he was "happy to see HB 1545, a bill that would provide a safe, measured approach to parole consideration for the highest cost, lowest risk population, be voted to advance at the House Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee".
Further commenting on the fiscal impact, Allen said, "The prison population is rapidly aging, and we face challenges trying to meet the special needs of an older population", after visiting the Enhanced Care Unit in the Jefferson City Correctional Center.
On his motivation: Rep. Allen stated his "strong conservative values" led him to champion the bill which he says "would benefit public safety, Missouri families, and Missouri taxpayers", and looked forward to "working with more members of the House on this critical legislation".
FAMM (formerly known as the Families Against Mandatory Minimum Foundation), now known as Families For Justice Reform, was a key consulting organization behind crafting the language of the bill.
We spoke with Maria Goellner, FAMM State Policy Director, between Missouri's Legislative Sessions on March 22, 2024.
As FAMM’s Deputy Director of Policy, Maria works with policymakers, families, the public, and the media on criminal justice priorities in multiple jurisdictions across the United States, including Missouri.
On the legislation, Missouri HB 1545, Goellner stated: "Our justice system should respect our American values of individual accountability and dignity while keeping communities safe and preserving families".
She also said the legislation "preserves accountability while allowing a small number of older, disabled incarcerated people to become eligible for careful parole review", and on behalf of FAMM, thanked Rep. Bill Allen for the bill and his "leadership on the urgent issue of Missouri's aging prison population."
On March 14, 2024, the House Committee Substitute voted 'do pass' on the legislation but at the time of the story, it had not been sent to the Missouri Senate.
A recent nationwide story from NPR highlighted the challenges that other states are facing in a 'graying' prison population. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, older adults are increasingly caught up in all parts of the criminal legal process: in arrests, pretrial detention, and imprisonment. In 2000, 3 percent of all adult arrests involved people aged 55 or older, and by 2021, this older population accounted for 8 percent of all adult arrests.
The report also states that older people make up five times as much of the prison population as they did three decades ago. In thirty years—from 1991 to 2021, the percentage of the state and federal prison population nationwide aged 55 or older, grew from 3 percent to 15 percent.
Mental illness and criminalization are also linked among older adults. One in nine people aged 65 and older have Alzheimer’s dementia. The most recent national data available indicates that people with cognitive disabilities are overrepresented in jails and prisons: 31% of people in jails in 2012 and 24% of people in state prisons in 2016 reported a cognitive disability. As greater numbers of older adults with cognitive disabilities encounter police,older prison populations are also expected to increase.
In our interview, Maria Goellner, also known as 'MJ', explained the practical effects of the legislation within the Missouri Department of Corrections, the recent developments on the bill, and what other states are dealing with, within their prison systems regarding a rapidly aging prison population.
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