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.

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.