State prisons almost filled up / LJWorld.com

Archive for Thursday, January 11, 2007

Inmate capacity expected to reach maximum in two years

January 11, 2007

Kansas lawmakers reaped the political benefits of passing tough-on-crime legislation last year. Now they must pay the bill.

The state inmate population is expected to exceed the system's capacity within two years, officials said Wednesday. Some say that means lawmakers must now plan to build more prison space.

"There ain't no free lunch," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman John Vratil, R-Leawood, said. "If the public wants us to be tough on crime, they need to understand there's a price tag."

That price tag could be in the $20 million range to build a 500-bed, medium-security addition at the El Dorado state prison.

But more steel bars aren't the only option.

Judge Robert Fairchild, the chief judge for Douglas County District Court, said he'd rather see the money spent on programs to help inmates adjust to life outside prison - a step he said could save money and space in the long run by preventing inmates from re-offending.

"What I would really like to see is more unique programs, alternative programs that are kind of like a halfway house where the offender would live but would get job training," Fairchild said. "They'd have to actually get a job while they're there. They'd have to pay rent. I think we really need to do some things so that we don't send somebody out and say, 'You're free, go back to where you were.'"

A 2006 study of Kansas' prison population by the Council of State Governments found that a combination of measures - including reducing the number of people who violate parole and probation, plus giving some inmates 10 percent off their sentences if they complete treatment, educational and job-training programs - could put off the need for more prisons for the next decade.

Illustration by Karl Gehring

Currently, there are 8,933 inmates in the state prison system, which has a capacity of 9,397.

Projections from the Kansas Sentencing Commission show that the capacity will be surpassed in 2009 if nothing changes. Much of the projected increase is due to the adoption last year of Jessica's Law, which strengthened penalties against child molesters and other sex offenders.

"This is where we really see the increase in the next 10 years," said Helen Pedigo, executive director of the Sentencing Commission.

Corrections officials have said the new law would generate the need for another 1,000 prison beds by 2016.

"We need to step up to the plate and find new bed space," said state Sen. Dwayne Umbarger, R-Thayer.

Fairchild said he hadn't seen any sex-crime cases yet in Douglas County involving the higher penalties created by Jessica's Law.

"So far, it has not been a big factor. It may be in the future," he said.

Legislation to contract with a private firm to build an additional prison has been filed, but a similar proposal died last year.

Vratil said there is "dwindling support" in the Kansas Legislature for private prisons because of problems other states have had with them.

Discussion

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11 January 2007
at 8:45 a.m.

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emilyhadley (Emily Hadley) says…

How about we stop locking up any non-violent offenders committing victimless crimes?
11 January 2007
at 8:53 a.m.

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miker (Anonymous) says…

More dog handlers to ease it up ?
11 January 2007
at 12:16 p.m.

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oldvet (Anonymous) says…

With NAFTA in place, we could outsource 'em to Mexico… would probably only cost us $2 or $3 per person, per day… and Mexico would make a profit!!!
11 January 2007
at 12:38 p.m.

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oldgoof (Anonymous) says…

America has 5% of the worlds population and has 25% of the worlds prisoners. Hmmm.
11 January 2007
at 1:18 p.m.

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cog_nate (Nate Poell) says…

madmike, I think Emily might be referring to marijuana-related crimes such as possession. Relaxing possession regulations for marijuana would likely ease the overcrowding problem.
11 January 2007
at 1:52 p.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

Take a look at this :

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/colb/200…

Thanks.

Marion.
11 January 2007
at 2:35 p.m.

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oldgoof (Anonymous) says…

Marion: Good article.

11 January 2007
at 6:53 p.m.

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gerbilsniper (Anonymous) says…

Perhaps Marion could do the research for me…

But i recall once hearing in a lecture that each state get's a federal allotment for housing prisoners which goes to individual counties by size.

Now for example,say Sedgwick county get's $400 per day to house a prisoner… but a smaller outlying county such as Sumner or Rice county has lower crime being mainly rural and has some extra bed space in their county jail. They agree to house X number of of Sedgwick's over crowded population at $200 a day.

Small county get's $200 a day to house a prisoner that actually costs the county about $80 a day to house, so they bank $120 per inmate and Sedgwick(since the prisoner is still technically in their custody) still banks $200 and can still fill that extra bed in their own jail.

I sure this becomes pretty lucrative for both counties and therefor, more of an incentive to keep people in jail.

I'm rambling, but could someone look into this for me?
11 January 2007
at 9:26 p.m.

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Kropotkin (Anonymous) says…

Gerbilsniper,

You may have fallen asleep in that lecture and dreamt all those numbers. They don't exist in fact.

The private prison industry has pushed for the repeal of the Kansas law banning construction of new for-profit lockups. Too much trouble from them in the '80s. They have riots, escapes, murders, much more than public pens.

But GEO Group, a Florida outfit has been spreading lots of dough around to legislators and they do stay bought. GEO will import murderers and rapists to make a profit. They kept Kansas from building a much less expensive public pen last year and they'll keep this up until their hacks get voted out of office.

The main offender is Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt. He was assisted last year by Phill Kline, thankfully exiled now to Johnson county. They got Jessica's law passed to insure that Kansas prisons were full to bursting.

Who knows? We might have a Duke Cunningham right here in Kansas.
12 January 2007
at 12:33 a.m.

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pelliott (Anonymous) says…

A lot of the enforcement is aimed to control and degrade certain populations rather than to serve and protect. Decriminalizing and pushing recovering programs would serve us taxpayers a lot more. Ask the cops, if the courts and prisons should be spent on hemp or on robbers. Ask them if all the savings on public mental health has filled the cells. Then there are the thousands of man hours, millions of dollars to catch pot growers. Those sidetrips leave them a little thin to catch or deter the common thiefs and sadists that wind their way through the bloated system till they end up killing and ruining many peoples lifes. The ability of one thief to ruin the gains of many hardworking families is enormous. if we target the hoodlums and goofs early, rather than eventually sending them to the academy to rot and learn, we could save not just property, money but families. We are spending real money to create large populations of hopeless people, desperate people. Then we let them out.
12 January 2007
at 4:31 a.m.

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merrill (Anonymous) says…

Private prisons = expensive corporate welfare

Release non violent offenders to create more space for child molestors, rapists, murderers.

Put white collar criminals under house arrest for a minimum of 10 years. Front and back yards would the extent of their travels. Yes their egos and self esteem will be affected.