|
|
| N.C. Faces Budget Buster on Prisons |
| By Charlotte Observer |
| Published: 12/09/2002 |
|
They've tried to delay it, ignore it and sidestep it, but next year North Carolina lawmakers will have to pay the bill: $59 million for three new prisons. It's just the beginning of a 10-year period that could see jumps in the prison population and the same wrestling over prison spending that the state faced when it overhauled the sentencing system nearly a decade ago. The new cost could top $500 million over 10 years at a time when the state is struggling to raise an extra $1.5 billion just to balance its books next year. 'Prisons are the silent killer in the budget. We are going into another prison crisis,' said Rep. Greg Thompson, R-Mitchell, outgoing co-chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. 'We don't have enough beds in this state.' Even with the three new 1,000-bed prisons due to open next year in Alexander, Anson and Scotland counties, the Department of Correction projects North Carolina will start to fall short of beds as soon as 2004. By 2011, inmate population is expected to top 41,000, meaning the state would need 6,205 additional beds. The need for more prisons is fueled by tough sentencing laws that took effect in 1994 and were designed to keep violent criminals and repeat offenders locked up. North Carolina has spent more than $400 million since 1991 to build new prisons. As inmate populations swelled, lawmakers assigned the N.C. Sentencing Commission to re-examine the system. Their recommendations, released in May, would reduce the demand for new prison space to about 3,200 beds by 2010. Right now the minimum sentences for violent crimes such as second-degree rape and assault with a deadly weapon range from 8 1/2 years to 17 1/2 years. Those sentences could drop to seven to 15 years under the commission's proposals. Some of the suggestions -- such as those that would slightly reduce the sentences involving sexual acts with young teenagers -- may be too hot for politicians to touch. This year lawmakers from both parties were preoccupied with election-year politics and the state's budget crisis. Justice and Public Safety, which administers prisons, took a 5 percent cut in its $1.5 billion budget this fall -- one of the biggest cuts of any state agency -- to help the state fill the $1.5 billion hole in its $14 billion budget. Programs with more political appeal fared better: Education programs received more money this year than last and health programs survived with a smaller percentage cut. The state closed a boot camp for teenagers, eliminated the positions of 23 prison chaplains and cut funding for local programs designed to keep former inmates from repeating their crimes. The cuts also put a strain on the state's community-based programs which are touted as a way to prevent new criminal offenses and to save the state money. Using state money, counties help sponsor alcohol and drug treatment programs for inmates once they're released from prison. They work with the courts to help find jobs and to provide support and therapy. They also evaluate the inmates and present options to judges who can use the threat of additional prison time to pressure inmates into attending the programs. |
advertise
|
privacy policy
|
add URL
|
about us
|
terms/disclaimer
|
contact us
|
join our team
|
help
There is a lot of information on this website about inmates and prison guards. I didn’t realize what was going on in our prison system until I discovered this website. Similarly, I didn’t understand litigation finance until I read more from Hamilton Lindley who is a litigation finance expert based in Texas.