Pubdate: Wed, 15 Jan 2003 Source: Dallas Morning News (TX) Copyright: 2003 The Dallas Morning News Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117 Author: Ed Timms, The Dallas Morning News Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration) SURGE IN INMATES SEEN ON HORIZON Texas System May Hit Capacity Within Two Years, Study Says At a time when legislators already have a full plate of woes to digest, the Texas inmate population is growing again. New research predicts that within two years the prison system may run out of room for inmates. That projection by the Criminal Justice Policy Council, a state agency that analyzes policy for the governor and the Legislature, could spell the end to a decline in inmate population that began in 2000. Among the options being discussed: building new prisons. "Is there a need for the state to build more prisons? Do we need to go out and contract beds again? Do we need to look at more privatization? Are there creative ways for us to increase our own capacity? Those are all the kinds of things that we will have to look at," said Gary Johnson, executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He said the projections made public on Tuesday represent a significant change from previous forecasts. Mr. Johnson said the department won't officially change a budget request submitted in September - which is about equal to the agency's current operating budget. But he expects the new projections to prompt discussions between prison officials and legislators as they weigh short-term and long-term options. Throughout the 1990s, Texas experienced an inmate population explosion that fueled the largest prison construction boom in the state's history. The inmate population soared from 49,600 in 1991 to a record 151,100 in 2000, according to state statistics. To help with the overflow, some inmates were housed in county facilities. The criminal justice department's operational capacity is 147,683 offenders - - with a reported population of 146,778 as of December. The Criminal Justice Policy Council's researchers concluded that by the end of fiscal 2004, the inmate population could exceed capacity by 2,366 offenders. By the end of fiscal 2008, they projected that the population could exceed operational capacity by 13,713 inmates - for a total of 161,396 - well above the previous high-water mark. Tony Fabelo, the Criminal Justice Policy Council's executive director, attributed the projected population growth to "fewer releases, more [parole and probation] revocations, and higher crime." Prison releases in Texas declined 10 percent in fiscal 2002, while parole revocations increased by 14 percent and probation revocations by 4 percent. And rising crime, demonstrated by a 10 percent increase in the average number of jail prisoners awaiting trials for felonies, heightened the "front-end" demand for prison space. Mr. Johnson said prison officials already are discussing ways to deal with the anticipated population growth. He said prison officials also will review the revocation process used for probationers and parolees, as well as alternatives to incarceration. "When you look at the numbers, we take in - between the state jail and institutional division - more than 50,000 people a year," he said. "And about 21,000 of those are probation revocations, and about 11,000 are parole revocations." Reducing the number of revocations, he said, translates into fewer inmates. Housing more inmates isn't the only issue for the prison system. A larger inmate population would place more demands on correctional officers, at a time when the department is grappling with a shortage. Mr. Johnson said that the shortage has been reduced, in part because of pay increases and other benefits approved by the last Legislature. In September 2001, the department had about 3,400 fewer correctional officers than the agency's authorized strength. Mr. Johnson said the department is about 2,300 correctional officers below its authorized strength. Meredith Rountree, who heads the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas' Prison and Jail Accountability Project, said she's concerned with "any kind of increase in the prison population" and worries that could lead to "cutbacks in things we think are essential to keep Texas out of litigation" such as mental health care. She said the department's staffing problems might intensify. When confronted with staffing shortages, she said, "generally the prisons will cut back on activities for prisoners and they will be on some kind of quasi-lockdown status. "They'll be confined to their cells for longer periods of time, and things like that are strongly associated with greater levels of frustration and bad behavior by prisoners," she said. Prison officials said that they remain committed to sound correctional practices. "There's no thought of going back to an antiquated system," said Larry Todd, a prison spokesman. - --- MAP posted-by: Jackl