SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A new study finds the number of Utah criminals on parole who have fled to become fugitives has increased in the last two-plus years.
The Deseret News reported Sunday the study, funded by the Utah Association of Counties and conducted by the Sorenson Impact Center at the University of Utah, states 7.5 percent of Utah’s parole and probation population were fugitives in August 2014. This January, 12 percent were AWOL — a 60 percent increase.
The fugitive figures were presented Thursday to a group of Utah County prosecutors.
The jump has implications for the state’s high-profile Justice Reinvestment Initiative, which took effect in October 2015. Among other things, the initiative allowed more low-level drug offenders to avoid prison.