Pubdate: Fri, 25 Jan 2002 Source: Intelligencer & Wheeling News-Register (WV) Copyright: 2002 The Intelligencer & Wheeling News Register Contact: http://www.intellnews.net/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1633 Author: Juliet A Terry ALTERNATIVE SENTENCING COULD EASE BURDEN OF OVERCROWDING More alternative sentencing through community corrections is one way to ease the burden on West Virginia's overcrowded regional jail and prison facilities, 1st Circuit Judge Martin J. Gaughan said Wednesday to the state's Senate Judiciary Committee. Gaughan joined Joe Martin, state secretary of military affairs and public safety, in addressing the committee about capacity shortages in state prisons and jails. Martin said if the rate of incarceration in West Virginia stays the same, by 2010 the state will be short 2,200 prison beds. Inmate population estimates supplied by the Division of Corrections predicts by 2005 inmate population will be 4,936, with space available for 3,698 inmates, and 5,868 people will be incarcerated by 2010 with only 3,698 beds available for them. Martin said from 1993 to 2000, the state prison population grew by a rate of 252 inmates a year. He said West Virginia ranks third in the country for prison population percentage. With an overcrowded corrections system, the regional jails get the "overflow" even though those facilities are not equipped for long-term inmate housing, lacking amenities like a recreational area that state prisons are required to have. Gaughan told lawmakers that community corrections like the Day Report Centers in Wheeling and Weirton could help overcrowding in the regional jails and the prison system. A year ago, Gaughan convinced lawmakers to appropriate $300,000 to the establishment of a Day Report Center. A judge can sentence an offender to community corrections through the Day Report Center, a combination of house arrest and daily reporting to a center staffed with counselors. Unemployed offenders sentenced to community corrections must spend eight hours a day at the Day Report Center; offenders with full-time jobs have weekly requirements. All Day Report Center participants must perform community service and attend counseling sessions. The center also requires and provides instruction for the completion of a high school diploma, job training and basic skills education when needed. Gaughan said after one year and about 100 offenders, the two day report centers have spent only half the $300,000 allotment and already have saved the state over $200,000 in jail costs. The program is not easy, as evinced by one participant who told him he'd rather have gone to jail, Gaughan said, so not only does it save money, it is an effective form of alternative sentencing. All counties could create day report centers, but only the Northern Panhandle has taken that step so far, most likely because county commissions are required to provide $25,000 in start-up funds, donate space for the center and pay the salaries of counselors and security personnel. Next week Gaughan said he will make a formal request to the House Finance Committee for $2.5 million to expand the day report center program in the Northern Panhandle and make the concept more affordable for other counties. Much of the future prison bed shortage can be attributed to a "stacking effect of long-term sentences for major offenders," Martin said when Sen. Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall, asked if the prisons would benefit from alternative sentencing using options like the Day Report Center, as Gaughan explained. Martin said he did not want to create 2,200 additional beds, but rather would favor a combination of some additional bed space for inmates, more alternative sentencing and possible changes to sentencing structure in state code. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake