If you ask the average individual how they feel about the efficiency of any government agency the normal response begins with an eye roll and a statement that usually includes words like slow, waste, fraud and abuse. Georgia taxpayers are no different when it comes to frustration, real or imagined, about its state run departments. Georgia is one of the better managed states thanks to Governor Nathan Deal and the high expectation he places on his department heads both in proper budgeting and outcomes.
Last week in Austin, Texas, one state agency in particular gave Georgia a reason to be proud! The Executive Director of Georgia Pardons and Parole, Michael Nail, was one of four speakers at a Texas Public Policy Foundation primer on the use of technology and how it can be applied to criminal justice reform. The panel included a Texas State Senator, the Deputy Director of Texas Adult Probation and an authority on advances in medical technology for the purposes of monitoring blood alcohol and illegal drug uses.
Nail wasn’t there to learn, he was there to lead! The reason for the Georgia pride rests on the fact that Georgia Parole decided three years ago that having officers sit in buildings was counter-intuitive to why they were hired in the first place. Their job is to interact on a daily basis with those on parole to insure that they are on track to “graduate” from parole and work their way back into being a productive member of society. Director Nail began to dismantle the expensive “brick and mortar” office space that was being used to house their officers and poured that money into technology that included voice recognition and location services that put the officer in the field where they belong. The outcome is now a model for the nation in “virtual offices.”
Nail took the podium in Austin to describe how Texas had started the process of criminal justice reform many years ago, but was quick to point out that his agency had given it a boost with the virtual offices and the results are astounding. Georgia is now the one being followed!
In Georgia as in any parole agency the biggest issue is funding. Three years ago with the economy still on its heels Governor Deal had no choice but to trim each state budget. Nail decided there was no better time than that to dispose of the expensive leases and overhead of the multiple buildings housing his officers. He began shuttering the offices and turning that money toward the technology of a local Decatur, Ga. company that not only saved millions but actually made the officers more efficient and the results are that the department has been able to live with budget cuts and at the same time spend more time with the offenders insuring that they move into society and not back into prison.
It goes without saying that criminal justice reform is a hot topic across the nation and the Texas Public Policy Foundation with its spin off division called “Right On Crime” has been leading and elevating the discussion. Billions are spent across the nation every year to house and track criminals and Georgia is now spending about a billion a year in the process. Texas spends over six billion annually.
Georgians should be proud! Our Board of Pardons and Parole and its leadership team are now showing the nation how to spend less and get more.
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