TNC
02-11-2005, 09:31 AM
Wayne Hoffman
The Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 02-11-2005
Overcrowded prisons, too few corrections officers and too little money could put the state in legal crosshairs over the care of inmates, Department of Correction Director Tom Beauclair warned lawmakers Thursday.
"We have a system that is at a tipping point," the director told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. "Without proper support ... we have the potential to come under a court monitor. We do not want to go there."
Compounding the problem is the uncertainty surrounding an 18-year-old case capping inmate populations at the Idaho State Correctional Institution near Boise.
If the state loses the case, which is in a mediation phase, Beauclair told lawmakers inmates would have to be shipped out of state immediately — at great expense to taxpayers and with limited options for rehabilitation for the offenders. The state still faces multiple court cases over prison crowding, healthcare and mental health programs, he said.
Beauclair urged lawmakers not to skimp on spending for the agency as the panel searches for ways to balance next year's budget with an eye toward a money shortfall in 2006-2007.
The department has asked for $124 million from taxpayers, an increase of 12 percent, prompted almost entirely by the burgeoning prison population.
The prison population is expected to hit 6,481 by the end of June, an increase of more than 650 since the count remained relatively flat two years ago.
The state's prisons have a capacity of slightly more than 6,000 inmates. The excess have been housed in county jails, on cots in the gymnasium of the prison at Cottonwood, with double-bunking at ISCI and in barracks-style tents at St. Anthony and Boise.
The surge in inmates isn't expected to diminish in the foreseeable future, and the department is expected to pick up another 365 prisoners by June 30, 2006.
What's more, budget cuts have kept the number of corrections officers largely flat for the past few years.
"This inmate/staff trend leaves me very concerned about safety and security at our institutions," Beauclair said. Demand for treatment programs has basically eroded the agency's allotted treatment cash, forcing the agency to juggle money around to continue funding programs, he said.
The department is asking for taxpayer money to add prison beds, including an expansion of the women's prison near Boise, adding more than 130 beds at a cost of $2 million, and it wants $1.4 million to build a semi-permanent building called a "Sprung Structure" that would house 100 men.
Rexburg Sen. Brent Hill said Beauclair's analysis is "a pretty bleak picture" and urged him to offer suggestions for change.
"We can't just double (the inmate population) every ten years," Hill said. "It's going up more rapidly than our population growth."
Beauclair said Gov. Dirk Kempthorne's newly-appointed commission that will examine corrections issues over the coming months will be a help. The director, who in recent public discussions with lawmakers has highlighted mandatory minimum sentences and the effect that has on the population, only touched on the issue Thursday, but didn't linger.
About 700 inmates are in prison on drug trafficking charges, which carry mandatory minimum sentences, he told the panel.
"These people are staying longer, and that's what causes growth."
"I don't have any magic answers," Beauclair said, "but we do need proper funding."
The Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 02-11-2005
Overcrowded prisons, too few corrections officers and too little money could put the state in legal crosshairs over the care of inmates, Department of Correction Director Tom Beauclair warned lawmakers Thursday.
"We have a system that is at a tipping point," the director told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. "Without proper support ... we have the potential to come under a court monitor. We do not want to go there."
Compounding the problem is the uncertainty surrounding an 18-year-old case capping inmate populations at the Idaho State Correctional Institution near Boise.
If the state loses the case, which is in a mediation phase, Beauclair told lawmakers inmates would have to be shipped out of state immediately — at great expense to taxpayers and with limited options for rehabilitation for the offenders. The state still faces multiple court cases over prison crowding, healthcare and mental health programs, he said.
Beauclair urged lawmakers not to skimp on spending for the agency as the panel searches for ways to balance next year's budget with an eye toward a money shortfall in 2006-2007.
The department has asked for $124 million from taxpayers, an increase of 12 percent, prompted almost entirely by the burgeoning prison population.
The prison population is expected to hit 6,481 by the end of June, an increase of more than 650 since the count remained relatively flat two years ago.
The state's prisons have a capacity of slightly more than 6,000 inmates. The excess have been housed in county jails, on cots in the gymnasium of the prison at Cottonwood, with double-bunking at ISCI and in barracks-style tents at St. Anthony and Boise.
The surge in inmates isn't expected to diminish in the foreseeable future, and the department is expected to pick up another 365 prisoners by June 30, 2006.
What's more, budget cuts have kept the number of corrections officers largely flat for the past few years.
"This inmate/staff trend leaves me very concerned about safety and security at our institutions," Beauclair said. Demand for treatment programs has basically eroded the agency's allotted treatment cash, forcing the agency to juggle money around to continue funding programs, he said.
The department is asking for taxpayer money to add prison beds, including an expansion of the women's prison near Boise, adding more than 130 beds at a cost of $2 million, and it wants $1.4 million to build a semi-permanent building called a "Sprung Structure" that would house 100 men.
Rexburg Sen. Brent Hill said Beauclair's analysis is "a pretty bleak picture" and urged him to offer suggestions for change.
"We can't just double (the inmate population) every ten years," Hill said. "It's going up more rapidly than our population growth."
Beauclair said Gov. Dirk Kempthorne's newly-appointed commission that will examine corrections issues over the coming months will be a help. The director, who in recent public discussions with lawmakers has highlighted mandatory minimum sentences and the effect that has on the population, only touched on the issue Thursday, but didn't linger.
About 700 inmates are in prison on drug trafficking charges, which carry mandatory minimum sentences, he told the panel.
"These people are staying longer, and that's what causes growth."
"I don't have any magic answers," Beauclair said, "but we do need proper funding."