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| Budget cuts could close Casper corrections facility |
| By trib.com - JOAN BARRON |
| Published: 01/17/2012 |
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CHEYENNE — The Department of Corrections could handle a 2 percent budget reduction, but a 5 percent cut would mean shutting down programs like the 100-bed Casper re-entry treatment program. And, an 8 percent cut, DOC Director Robert Lampert said Monday, would severely impact all of the state’s prison alternative programs. Inmates who would normally go to local jails through the split-sentence program or to adult community alternatives program and the 100-bed Casper substance abuse program would go to prison, instead. Lampert told the Joint Appropriations Committee on Monday the alternative programs are less costly than to keep inmates in the state’s institutions at a cost of $150 per day. The Joint Appropriations Committee has asked all state agencies to present the three scenarios detailing the effect of budget cuts of 2, 5 and 8 percent. Other agency heads have given equally dire pictures of the impact of the deeper spending cuts. The committee is trying to curb state spending in the face of projected flat revenues, due largely to a decline in natural gas prices. Sen. Phil Nicholas, R-Laramie, the co-chairman of the Joint Appropriations Committee, noted the state has a commitment to maintain the Casper 100-bed facility for 10 years. The Casper program, authorized by the Legislature in 2005, treats male offenders in the last 18 months of a felony sentence for substance addiction. The offenders live in a secure environment around the clock and learn how to live clean and sober, Lambert said. He said that while he doesn’t object to putting out a request for proposal for other contractors, he isn’t sure any other provider can offer 100 beds. Read More. |
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