danielle
04-24-2003, 09:19 PM
Epps says Parchman unit is being redesigned
JACKSON - Additional beds are being placed in Mississippi prisons as the state continues to inch toward its total prison capacity.
Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps said Wednesday that a unit at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman was being redesigned according to new prison capacity standards.
The unit, comprising four buildings and each holding 175 prisoners, would hold 225 inmates under the new standards, Epps said.
He said 130 beds were added two months ago to the women's unit in the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Rankin County.
If the new design works out, and more beds are needed, other state prison facilities will also see changes, he said.
"They've got to go somewhere," Epps said. "You are being more cost-effective by putting more beds in your state prisons instead of contracting them out somewhere."
The state is nearing its total prison capacity of 21,171. At the beginning of April, it was just 1,000 inmates short of that number, according to Mississippi Department of Corrections' records.
The state is adding prisoners at the rate of about 85 a month, Epps said. In the next fiscal year, MDOC expects to add another 800 prisoners, he said.
Ron Welch, an attorney representing all MDOC prisoners in a class action federal lawsuit filed in the 1970s, cautioned against adding beds to the existing facilities.
"They weren't designed for that many prisoners," Welch said. "They're taking a great risk to do that."
In February, U.S. Magistrate Jerry Davis signed an order allowing the prison to use American Corrections Association standards in determining prison capacity. The standard had been one prisoner for 50 square feet of living space. The ACA standard is one prisoner for 35 square feet of unencumbered space.
Welch said Davis' order is not final. Welch said Davis has not ruled on his request that ACA standards be applied to all areas of the prison, not just living quarters.
No additional guards are expected to be hired, Epps said.
In January, when a new electric fence at Parchman is scheduled to come online, 35-40 guards now watching the prison's perimeter will be transferred where needed, he said.
Mississippi has the second-highest rate of incarceration in the country, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, and there are no plans - or funds - to build new prisons.
MDOC is projected to run a deficit the next fiscal year of about $60 million. Delta Correctional Facility, a 1,000-bed private prison, was closed last year, and the prisoners were relocated.
Legislation aimed at reducing the prison population died in the closing days of the 2003 session. It would have allowed prison trusties to earn additional days off their sentence for every 30 days worked. Currently, trusties earn 10 days off their sentence each 30 days.
JACKSON - Additional beds are being placed in Mississippi prisons as the state continues to inch toward its total prison capacity.
Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps said Wednesday that a unit at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman was being redesigned according to new prison capacity standards.
The unit, comprising four buildings and each holding 175 prisoners, would hold 225 inmates under the new standards, Epps said.
He said 130 beds were added two months ago to the women's unit in the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Rankin County.
If the new design works out, and more beds are needed, other state prison facilities will also see changes, he said.
"They've got to go somewhere," Epps said. "You are being more cost-effective by putting more beds in your state prisons instead of contracting them out somewhere."
The state is nearing its total prison capacity of 21,171. At the beginning of April, it was just 1,000 inmates short of that number, according to Mississippi Department of Corrections' records.
The state is adding prisoners at the rate of about 85 a month, Epps said. In the next fiscal year, MDOC expects to add another 800 prisoners, he said.
Ron Welch, an attorney representing all MDOC prisoners in a class action federal lawsuit filed in the 1970s, cautioned against adding beds to the existing facilities.
"They weren't designed for that many prisoners," Welch said. "They're taking a great risk to do that."
In February, U.S. Magistrate Jerry Davis signed an order allowing the prison to use American Corrections Association standards in determining prison capacity. The standard had been one prisoner for 50 square feet of living space. The ACA standard is one prisoner for 35 square feet of unencumbered space.
Welch said Davis' order is not final. Welch said Davis has not ruled on his request that ACA standards be applied to all areas of the prison, not just living quarters.
No additional guards are expected to be hired, Epps said.
In January, when a new electric fence at Parchman is scheduled to come online, 35-40 guards now watching the prison's perimeter will be transferred where needed, he said.
Mississippi has the second-highest rate of incarceration in the country, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, and there are no plans - or funds - to build new prisons.
MDOC is projected to run a deficit the next fiscal year of about $60 million. Delta Correctional Facility, a 1,000-bed private prison, was closed last year, and the prisoners were relocated.
Legislation aimed at reducing the prison population died in the closing days of the 2003 session. It would have allowed prison trusties to earn additional days off their sentence for every 30 days worked. Currently, trusties earn 10 days off their sentence each 30 days.