TNC
07-20-2005, 11:18 PM
July 20, 2005
Idaho lawmakers spent about $70 million more this year on the Department of Corrections than it did just 10 years ago.
If left unchecked, the continual growing prison population will eventually overwhelm every state prison and jail.
Experts from across Eastern Idaho say something has got to give. Either tax payers will have to pay to build more prisons, or the system will have to change.
The Women’s Correctional Center is built to house 128 inmates, but currently 300 are locked up there.
District Judge Peter McDermott would like to see a drug program put in place to act as an alternative to prison.
He said, “It takes intense treatment to get these people off meth.”
This would shrink the prison population and cost, all while keeping more tax paying citizens on the street.
The increased spending on corrections is diverting tax dollars away from other state needs, like education.
http://www.localnews8.com/news/local/1718077.html
Idaho lawmakers spent about $70 million more this year on the Department of Corrections than it did just 10 years ago.
If left unchecked, the continual growing prison population will eventually overwhelm every state prison and jail.
Experts from across Eastern Idaho say something has got to give. Either tax payers will have to pay to build more prisons, or the system will have to change.
The Women’s Correctional Center is built to house 128 inmates, but currently 300 are locked up there.
District Judge Peter McDermott would like to see a drug program put in place to act as an alternative to prison.
He said, “It takes intense treatment to get these people off meth.”
This would shrink the prison population and cost, all while keeping more tax paying citizens on the street.
The increased spending on corrections is diverting tax dollars away from other state needs, like education.
http://www.localnews8.com/news/local/1718077.html