JJT
04-17-2004, 02:33 PM
KATU 2 News - Portland, Oregon
OR loses out on prison money because of missed deadline
April 9, 2004
- SALEM - Oregon has lost about $2 million in federal funding that goes toward the cost of keeping illegal aliens in prison because of a missed deadline, according to officials at the Department of Corrections.
The state has received money for that purpose during nine previous fiscal years, from about $1 million in 1995 to more than $5.5 million in 1998.
Last year the state got $2.3 million under the federal program, known as the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program.
Perrin Damon, a spokeswoman for the department in Salem, told the Albany Democrat-Herald on Thursday that the agency's budget director, Nathan Allen, had missed the March 8 deadline for requesting the money for this year.
"He is mortified," she added. "But that's what happened."
When Allen realized he had missed the deadline despite various reminders he had placed on his computer, Damon said, he tried to get an extension, but the federal Bureau of Justice Programs refused his request.
Allen, 54, has been budget manager since December 1996 and this biennium oversees an all-funds prison budget of $964.5 million.
He said he didn't want to make excuses for the missed deadline, but that there were new staff members to train, plus new reporting requirements with which to comply.
In February, the prison system said 716 of its 12,300 inmates were illegal aliens.
The Corrections Department says running the prison system costs about $64 per prisoner per day.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
OR loses out on prison money because of missed deadline
April 9, 2004
- SALEM - Oregon has lost about $2 million in federal funding that goes toward the cost of keeping illegal aliens in prison because of a missed deadline, according to officials at the Department of Corrections.
The state has received money for that purpose during nine previous fiscal years, from about $1 million in 1995 to more than $5.5 million in 1998.
Last year the state got $2.3 million under the federal program, known as the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program.
Perrin Damon, a spokeswoman for the department in Salem, told the Albany Democrat-Herald on Thursday that the agency's budget director, Nathan Allen, had missed the March 8 deadline for requesting the money for this year.
"He is mortified," she added. "But that's what happened."
When Allen realized he had missed the deadline despite various reminders he had placed on his computer, Damon said, he tried to get an extension, but the federal Bureau of Justice Programs refused his request.
Allen, 54, has been budget manager since December 1996 and this biennium oversees an all-funds prison budget of $964.5 million.
He said he didn't want to make excuses for the missed deadline, but that there were new staff members to train, plus new reporting requirements with which to comply.
In February, the prison system said 716 of its 12,300 inmates were illegal aliens.
The Corrections Department says running the prison system costs about $64 per prisoner per day.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)