Pubdate: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 Source: Montgomery Advertiser (AL) Copyright: 2003sThe Advertiser Co. Contact: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1088 PRISON FUNDING FIGURES TELLING A new survey on prison funding reveals much about Alabama's situation, in both fiscal and correctional terms. In essence, it finds that the state is doing a lot with a little in comparison to other states, but the figures also indicate the severity of the problems Alabama confronts in its prison system. In fiscal 2003, the budget for the Alabama Department of Corrections was $291 million for a system with nearly 28,000 inmates. The per-inmate cost was about $10,400, lower than in any other state. A lot lower. In South Carolina, for example, the per-inmate cost was about $12,350. In Arkansas, it was about $16,900. In North Carolina, it was about $27,750. In Tennessee, it was about $28,700. Clearly, thrift is not an issue in Alabama, at least not in the sense that taxpayers should be concerned about inefficient use of funds in the prison system. But taxpayers also should understand that the wide disparities in state funding levels exist for significant reasons. Other states, recognizing that few inmates will die in prison and that most will return to society at some point, invest in programs that increase the odds of making that return to society a successful one. Arkansas, for example, spends 10 times what Alabama does on such programs -- substance abuse treatment, anger management, parenting skills and so forth. Other states accept the financial responsibility for adequate staffing of prisons. In the case of Tennessee, security costs are 175 percent higher than in Alabama, primarily because the state adheres to strict staffing standards. Here, however, prisons are chronically short-staffed, creating higher risk for corrections personnel, for inmates and, potentially, for the public. Another reason for the disparities, and perhaps the one with the greatest long-term implications for Alabama, is the fact that Alabama incarcerates more people than other states. For example, Alabama has only about 77 percent of Tennessee's population, yet its prison population is about 152 percent of Tennessee's. Alabama has only about 54 percent of North Carolina's population, but its prison population is about 83 percent of North Carolina's. These figures reflect a sentencing structure that favors incarceration over other alternatives. Reforming that structure is a critical element in addressing Alabama's prison problems. Without that, Alabama faces only such unattractive options as building and staffing vast amounts of new prison space, or continuing to shoehorn inmates into existing facilities, creating still more dangerous situations and inviting another stretch of federal court intervention. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart