The Correctional Association of New York, a state prison watchdog group, released dashboard data earlier in July on releases of incarcerated people from Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) facilities.
The findings notably include conditional releases surpassing parole releases, which reflects growing criminal-legal practices towards determinate sentences — which set a flat maximum incarceration term — rather than indeterminate sentences, which establish a minimum and maximum. Historically, parole served as the leading release mechanism as incarcerated individuals would meet their minimum sentence and become eligible to go in front of a discretionary board.
“DOCCS remains committed to preparing individuals for successful reentry regardless of their release mechanism, ensuring they have access to programming, treatment, education, and discharge planning that support safer communities and reduce recidivism,” said a DOCCS spokesperson in response to the report.
Generally, releases halved between 2015 and 2025 largely due to the general decline in prison population. Incarcerated people from outside New York City limits make up “a growing majority” of both the state prison population and prison releases. CANY Director of Policy and Communications Sumeet Sharma credits a propensity from downstate district attorneys toward alternatives to incarceration programs, while more rural and suburban counties lack such initiatives or the willingness to employ them.
“You might see a different prosecutorial culture upstate where there is a desire for harsher sentencing versus in New York City and in other areas downstate,” said Sharma. “You’re also seeing less of a focus on implementing laws like Raise the Age, Less is More, [and] bail reform in counties outside of New York City. Keep in mind, a good portion of it is based on resources. Nonprofit organizations are able to offer effective alternatives to incarceration and diversion programs that stop prison from being really the only option available, which might be the case for someone who is in a lesser resourced part of the state.”
The Less is More Act, for example, plays a broad role in reducing the population through limiting how automatically the state can send someone back to prison over a parole violation.
Release demographics over the past year were also presented in the report, showing Black people made up roughly half of people released from prison, with elders still making up a minority of those leaving DOCCS custody despite an aging prison population. Most people who left state prisons were overwhelmingly discharged to the Division of Parole but the data also showed a few hundred individuals were received by federal immigration authorities.
This research deviates slightly from CANY’s usual work, which stems from a state law enlisting the watchdog towards civilian oversight over prison conditions and incarcerated individual safety. “This is a unique data set for us in a sense,” said Sharma. “While it does keep track of people who are being released from prison, it really speaks to trends outside of the prison system overall.”
The dashboard can be found at www.correctionalassociation.org/data/dashboard-releases.
