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| $700 million urged for Ariz. Prisons |
| By The Arizona Republic |
| Published: 10/06/2003 |
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Gov. Janet Napolitano wants to spend about $700 million to solve a dangerous prison crisis in which inmates sleep in tents and hallways, making life even more difficult for shorthanded officers. The governor also wants to carry out a "shock incarceration" program to help prevent thousands of probation violators each year from taking up precious prison space for long periods of time and to steer them away from future crimes. But the plan she announced during a news conference Wednesday stops short of more sweeping sentencing reforms advocated by some legislators. Other critics called the proposal's financial components "flimsy" and too expensive. The plan came a day after Napolitano unveiled a $35.5 million strategy to turn Arizona's troubled Child Protective Services agency into a model for the rest of the nation. Both proposals drew immediate criticism from Republican lawmakers worried about another state budget deficit. Napolitano noted that Arizona's prison system already has a shortage of 4,150 beds. "The Number 1 problem we have is overcrowding," she said, flanked by corrections officers and other law enforcement officials. "We have inmates sleeping in dayrooms, in hallways and on mattresses on the floors." The overcrowding threatens the safety of prisoners and officers. To meet the immediate need, Napolitano wants $26.4 million during this month's special legislative session, scheduled to start Oct. 20. The governor said the money is necessary to ease the bed shortage, Arizona's largest ever. The money would pay for temporary beds at county jails and for hiring and retaining officers who work at prisons in remote locations. Her long-term prison construction plan, which would cost about $700 million after financing, would add 9,134 beds at seven state prisons from June 2004 to November 2007. Debt payments would cost the state almost $50 million a year for 15 years beginning in 2006. |
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