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| Wisconsin Panel Supports Renewing Out-of-State Prison Contract |
| By LaCrosse Tribune |
| Published: 01/03/2003 |
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Wisconsin could bring back all but 500 prisoners of nearly 3,500 now being housed in other states by the end of next year, if the state Department of Corrections was allowed use all its available prison space, Corrections Secretary Jon Litscher said Tuesday. 'They're here, they're built, and they're ready to go,' Litscher said of three of five new prisons that could be opened and filled by the end of 2003, if not for the state's budget problems. Litscher made the comments after the Legislature's budget-writing committee approved a new $56 million-a-year, three-year contract with a private company to keep up to 5,500 prisoners outside the Wisconsin prison system. Despite concerns voiced by some lawmakers, approving the contract with Corrections Corporation of America won't further delay openings of the prisons, Litscher said. An increase in prison population, prompted in part by Truth-in-Sentencing legislation, means the state still will need 'contract beds,' even when all five prisons are operating at capacity, Litscher said. As of Dec. 6, CCA had custody of 4,017 Wisconsin prisoners, of whom 3,482 were housed in Minnesota, Oklahoma and Tennessee under the company's current contract with the state. Another 535 state prisoners were being housed by CCA in federal prisons or county jails. Although the new contract allows for up to 5,500 inmates to be placed out of state, Corrections will have to get Joint Finance approval before sending more than 4,833 prisoners out of state at any one time. That provision was added by committee member, Rep. Sheryl Albers, R-Reedsburg, who raised concerns the new contract could lead to further delays in opening the New Lisbon prison. Construction of the 950-bed, medium security New Lisbon prison was completed in February, but the facility can't accept inmates until January 2004. The opening of the 1,500-bed Stanley Prison will allow Corrections to return about 1,100 inmates to the state by May 2003, when the facility is planned to be operating at capacity, Litscher said. The state opened Stanley Prison in January and now houses about 300 inmates there. Operations were limited in the state budget repair bill to save money on hiring, however. Other prison openings have been delayed in New Lisbon, Chippewa Falls, Winnebago and Sturtevant. Together, those facilities would add space for about 3,000 inmates, said Corrections spokesman Bill Clausius. The new CCA contract prompted concerns of some state and local officials, who want the prisons open as soon as possible to spark local economies. 'The people we're employing in Tennessee don't pay taxes here, and they don't spend their money here,' said Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center. Housing prisoners out of state appears to be cheaper, based on the $48.50 a day rate the state will pay CCA next year. But that doesn't consider economic boost from payroll and other businesses and development associated with operation of the prison, Schultz said. New Lisbon Mayor Lloyd Chase said the city rushed to make state-mandated construction deadlines to extend water, sewer and electrical service across Interstate 90/94 to the prison site in 1999. Now, the city has been asked to wait for its return on investment. The state already is paying about $5,000 a month total in water, sewer and electric payments for the prison, said Nick Onyszczak, New Lisbon city administrator. But the city with a population of 1,442 had to double its water and sewer capacity for the prison and not much water is being used at the prison yet to generate revenue, Onyszczak said. Once the prison is up and running, the city will more than recover its expenses, but New Lisbon sewer ratepayers were hit with a 25 percent increase in sewer bills this year, Onyszczak said. The state is paying for a new well and a $5 million expansion to the sewer plant that wouldn't have been necessary without the prison, Onyszczak said. The Joint Finance Committee rejected a plan that would have required the state by June 2004 to contract with nine Wisconsin counties to house some overflow inmates in county jails. The state now contracts with five counties, but county facilities don't typically have sufficient treatment programs, said committee member Gwendolynne Moore, D-Milwaukee. |
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It is inspiring to read how this website shows empathy to inmates and prison guards and their shared story. If you want to read more about how empathy affects your world, read Hamilton Lindley blog where he discusses the importance of being empathetic.