CONCORD – Corrections Commissioner William Wrenn is looking at new ways to reduce the state-prison population while putting on temporary hold another new program that offers early release to inmates the department deems suitable.

One major focus will be doing a better job keeping paroled inmates from returning to prison, Wrenn said, adding, "We're looking at all sorts of things."

Wrenn also defended remarks to lawmakers regarding whether the state should incarcerate habitual offenders.

On average, about 500 paroled inmates return every year for violating the terms of their release, the commissioner said. Reducing recidivism could mean substantial savings, given that there are 2,600 inmates in the entire prison system in facilities in Concord, Goffstown, Berlin and Laconia.

The Laconia facility is scheduled to close due to the state's budget crunch, with an anticipated savings of $8 million to $10 million.

Wrenn, who said reducing recidivism also is a priority of Gov. John Lynch, wants to put case managers and program workers in district probation and parole offices to provide additional treatment at the local level, and leave supervision and enforcement to parole officers. The prison staff also needs to help inmates find housing and jobs after their parole plans are approved, he said.

New Hampshire has about a 40 percent recidivism rate. Reducing that even modestly could free up about 300 beds a year, Wrenn said.

"That's what we're hoping for. In closing Laconia, we have to do a better job keeping people on the outside. We're not going to have a lot of bed space," Wrenn said, adding that he also plans to improve education programs.

After closing Laconia, the state plans to use one of the two gymnasiums at the Berlin facility as a dormitory for 100 inmates. Renovations necessary to do so have already begun, Wrenn said.

Early release

A program allowing inmates to file petitions with a newly formed clemency board to seek early release, quietly launched Jan. 1, has been temporarily suspended while the new policy is rewritten, Wrenn said.

Of the nine inmates whose petitions already have been heard by the board, only a few will likely be accepted, Wrenn said. The hearings are not open to the public.

A revised law requires Wrenn to accept applications for early release and to make recommendations to the sentencing court if the inmate is a "suitable" candidate. A judge will have the final say.

The policy outlines how inmates can become suitable candidates by completing programs and remaining on good behavior. All inmates are eligible to apply except those convicted of capital or first-degree murder and those deemed to be sexually violent predators, a small percentage of all sex offenders.

Clarifying the issue

Wrenn said he wasn't trying to mislead lawmakers when he testified recently that at one point the previous year there were 165 inmates serving time as habitual offenders because of traffic convictions that didn't involve drugs or alcohol.

On Thursday, Wrenn said he didn't know what underlying convictions caused the habitual-offender certifications. He said he was just looking at the motor-vehicle conviction that led the habitual offender to prison.

The New Hampshire Sunday News reviewed records of 17 habitual offenders at state prison who were not listed as having alcohol involvement -- a non-scientific sampling of 10 percent who fit that description -- then cross-referenced their names with their habitual-offender certificates. Twelve of the 17, or about 70 percent, did include drunken-driving and transportation-of-drug convictions.

"I don't know if having a past DWI would impact the ability to use alternative sentencing for someone whose triggering offense (for the arrest leading to imprisonment) was a traffic violation."

While testifying Jan. 15 at a joint meeting of the House Financial, Criminal Justice, and Public Safety committees, Wrenn said: "Take away the DWI guy that keeps going out getting drunk and driving. I get that part. But traffic offenses -- the person that loses their license but continues to drive -- when they get caught, they're deemed habitual offenders ... Do we want these people in prison? Is that being smart on crime?

"One hundred sixty-five at $31,000 a year," he continued, referring to the cost of housing an inmate, "and going up based on medical needs of those individuals. Is that where we want to spend our money?"

Who's certified?

To be certified as a habitual offender, drivers must be convicted of:

-- three major motor vehicle offenses, such as drunken driving, reckless driving and disobeying a police officer;

-- a dozen minor violations, such as speeding, driving without a license, and solid-line violations;

-- or a combination of major and minor offenses, all within a five-year period.

If convicted of driving after habitual-offender certification, drivers face up to five years in prison.

"What I'm asking legislators is, is this the consequence we need when dealing with this level of crime?" Wrenn said.

Curtis Duclos, hearings administrator for the Department of Safety, said legislators were focusing on public safety in writing the habitual offender law.

"I think jail is a deterrent for most people not to drive in violation of the law, and having their driver's license taken away was not sufficient for many people who would continue to drive," Duclos said.

Driving is a privilege, Duclos said, and the habitual offender law is intended to make the roads safe for everyone.

Home confinement

Earle F. Wingate III, a Chichester defense attorney who was formerly a state police prosecutor and Department of Safety hearings examiner, plans to reference Wrenn's habitual offender remarks at an upcoming sentencing hearing for a client who faces jail for driving after habitual-offender certification. He'll argue for home confinement.

"The prison system is for more serious offenders," Wingate said.

According to the Department of Corrections, house arrest costs the inmate about $7 a day while a prison bed costs the state about $100 a day.

"Take a look at what we are spending on jails, and many (sentences) can be resolved with a home-confinement bracelet," Wingate said. "There's no reason to house (habitual offenders) at the expense of the state."

James M. O'Mara Jr., superintendent of Hillsborough County Jail, complimented Wrenn for raising awareness as to which offenders should get prison beds in a tight economy.

There are 14 habitual offenders out of 610 inmates at his facility.

"The question is ... who gets the cell -- the person alleged to have committed a violent, violent crime like rape, murder or assault or the person with speeding ticket?" O'Mara said.

While he isn't in favor of violating motor-vehicle laws, O'Mara said, "when push comes to shove, I'd much rather have a violent offender in the cell in Hillsborough County."