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| Empire Editorial: To fight rising prison costs, Alaska must reform |
| By juneauempire.com |
| Published: 06/23/2015 |
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It’s time for Alaskans to take a hard look at the state’s prison system and who inhabits it. Next fiscal year, the state of Alaska will spend $326 million on the Alaska Department of Corrections. According to figures from the department, there were 5,267 Alaskans in prison on July 1, 2014, the first day of the current fiscal year. The exact number of Alaskans in prison will fluctuate from day to day as prisoners are released and admitted, but do the math, and it works out to nearly $62,000 per inmate bed per year. Though the Alaska Legislature has solved the state’s budget puzzle for the 2016 fiscal year, in less than seven months it will be back at work in the Capitol to address an even worse fiscal problem. As lawmakers face the issue, even the Department of Corrections will be cut. Prison reform must be part of the state’s budget solution. Done correctly, it will save money and lead to better results for Alaskans unfortunate enough to end up in jail. Read More. |
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