The Texas Smart-On-Crime Coalition is excited to announce the release of new Texas Voters Survey polling data showing strong Texas voter support for alternatives to incarceration, as well as for other criminal justice reform policies currently being considered during Texas’ 85th Legislative Session.

Major findings include:

  • 82% of all voters and 75% of Republican primary voters favor making possession of a small amount of drugs among nonviolent individuals a misdemeanor instead of a felony so that, instead of going to prison, judges may sentence them to community supervision programs or other alternatives where they can get treatment.
  • 79% of all voters and 69% of GOP primary voters said they would prefer a candidate who supports rehabilitation by sending people with low-level drug offenses into community supervision or treatment programs, rather than prison.
  • 78% of all voters and 86% of GOP primary voters favor starting 17-year-olds in the juvenile justice system while giving a judge the discretion to move them to an adult system on a case-by-case basis.
  • 82% of all voters and 76% of GOP primary voters favor changing the way technical probation violations (such as missing a meeting with a probation officer, not committing a new crime) are handled, so those who have a minor infraction are not incarcerated but instead held accountable through enhanced curfews, electronic monitoring, or increased check-ins.
  • 92% of all voters and 88% of GOP primary voters agree that Texas’ current system is not working for people with drug addiction who continually cycle in and out of jail, never recovering from addiction, and putting a strain on law enforcement.

Please click here for full survey findings.

The Texas Voters Survey, commissioned by the Alliance for Safety and Justice on behalf of the Coalition, was conducted by Baselice & Associates, Inc., and surveyed more than 500 registered voters in the state of Texas between December 14-19, 2016. The goal was to measure awareness of the Texas criminal justice system as well as support/opposition to key policy proposals and types of candidates.