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SALT LAKE CITY — A legislative audit blames recent "serious crimes" committed by people on probation or parole on high turnover rates and inexperience on one of Utah's parole boards.
The Utah Department of Correction's Division of Adult Probation and Parole lacks the staff to adequately supervise and screen sex offenders and offenders with mental illnesses, according to the Legislative Auditor General Office's new audit.
The office presented its findings to the Legislative Audit Subcommittee on Tuesday, along with two other audits addressing the Board of Pardons and Parole, and cooperation between AP&P and other public safety entities.
Although auditors found that fatal crimes committed by offenders who are supervised by AP&P have not increased in recent years, the division has a problem with staffing and retention — which poses potential public safety concerns — and acknowledged several instances of noncompliance with standards.
Auditors also said that sex offenders were all treated with a high-risk level, and recommended focusing fewer resources on sex offenders who are not assessed as high-risk.
"Studies show treating all sex offenders with the same high-risk level, as AP&P currently does, wastes resources and may negatively impact offenders," the report said. "Rather, AP&P should fully implement a sex offender risk assessment tool to determine their level of supervision. Additionally, AP&P should increase screening of mentally ill offenders and place them with specialized agents to improve their supervision outcomes."
Not only does turnover limit the number of staff members on hand to conduct risk assessments, it also results in fewer experienced agents who can supervise the offenders who are most at risk of recidivism. This is especially pronounced in the region that includes Salt Lake, Tooele and Summit counties — which have the lowest number of experienced agents, but represent 50% of all high-risk offenders in the state.
"Our big concern with turnover is really that supervision quality may suffer," August Lehman, audit supervisor, told the committee.
Brian Dean, audit manager, said the auditors aren't necessarily recommending that AP&P hire more agents, but that they need more training for agents to make them more qualified to handle the most intensive cases.
Pay is the most common cause of turnover at AP&P, according to the audit, which noted that recent pay increases have helped the division stay more competitive.
"Our correctional officers and agents have some of the most challenging — and rewarding — jobs in this profession," Dan Blanchard, director of AP&P, said in a statement. "This audit brings to light just a few of the difficult aspects of their work, and it gives us as a state the unique opportunity to better appreciate their tireless efforts."
Department of Corrections Executive Director Brian Nielson said the department plans to implement all of the recommendations included in the report.
"We appreciate that legislative auditors took the time to understand the complexities of being an Adult Probation and Parole agent," he said.
Room for improvement at Board of Pardons and Parole
The second audit discussed Tuesday was a follow-up to a 2016 performance review of the Board of Pardons and Parole. Auditors said the board has made significant progress in the intervening six years, but presented a few recommendations on how it can continue to improve.
"I've been at the board now for a couple of years and hearing where they were before versus where they are today is incredibly impressive," said Mike Haddon, administrative services director at the board.
Auditors recommended defining a paroling philosophy for the board and working to improve consistency. The board was also asked to provide more public data on the factors that influence decisions, in order to increase transparency.
Finally, a third audit found areas for improvement in how various criminal justice entities work with one another. The audit pointed out that different agencies use different definitions for recidivism — when someone repeats an illegal behavior — which can cause confusion and complicate data tracking. Auditors recommended that the Utah Legislature should consider revising state code to include a clear definition of recidivism.
Haddon agreed that the agencies should work on cleaning up the various definitions to make sure that all parts of the justice system are working in tandem.
The report also recommended that the AP&P conduct a workload study to understand its capacity, and recommended a further audit of the Utah court system's use of probation.
As the meeting came to a close, House Speaker Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, reiterated the Legislature's support of the Department of Corrections.
"I know you take your work seriously, but it's always been really important to the state from the very beginning — that we take care of these individuals in the right way and keep the public safe in the right way," he said.
Correction: An earlier version incorrectly said issues of noncompliance that could lead to public safety concerns were most pronounced among registered sex offenders or those who have mental illness. Sex offenders often have lower recidivism rates, and are not all considered high-risk offenders.
