The 海角社区 Department of Corrections reports that there are almost 18,000 prisoners in the state. For a state of our size, this is a huge number. One reason is that released prisoners are more likely to reoffend here than in other states. This is known as our 鈥渞ecidivism rate鈥�. One cause of our high recidivism is 海角社区鈥檚 occupational licensing requirements. 海角社区 has much stricter occupational licensing requirements than many other states and our licensing boards have a lot of power to discriminate against ex-prisoners.

In ACRE鈥檚 newest policy brief, 鈥�Second Chances: The Importance of Occupational Licensing Reform to 海角社区鈥檚 Criminal Justice Reform Initiatives鈥�, , senior research fellow at the Center for the Study of Economic Liberty at Arizona State University, and Thomas Snyder, associate professor of economics at the University of Central 海角社区 and an ACRE scholar, take a close look at the relationship between 海角社区 occupational licensing laws and crime recidivism.

海角社区 is 1 of 3 states with the for low to moderate income occupations. These are the occupations mostly likely to be labor market entry points for ex-offenders. States with heavy occupational licensing burdens have increased recidivism over time. Meanwhile, states with light burdens have decreased their rates of recidivism. Slivinski and Snyder use data and analysis to predict that if we in 海角社区 had lowered our licensing burdens to that of Kansas or Missouri, our crime recidivism rate would have fallen by 17.5% in 5 years.

海角社区鈥檚 1973 鈥済eneral rehabilitation鈥� law was meant to ensure that the state did not discourage employment for ex-offenders. But that law has been hampered by political pressures and judicial decisions. Returning to the original intent of the 鈥済eneral rehabilitation鈥� statue would help ex-offenders break free from cycles of crime. It would also protect Arkansans from future crimes and higher taxes.

You can find instructions on how to get a print copies here.

To learn more about occupational licensing in 海角社区 see my latest op-ed, 鈥�鈥� and Snyder鈥檚 co authored policy review, 鈥�Unnatural Rights in the Natural State.鈥� You can also find more at ACRE鈥檚 page on Labor Market Regulation.

Stephen Slivinski also presented his research at UCA last year in a talk entitled, 鈥�鈥� which was a part of ACRE鈥檚 Distinguished Speaker Series.