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| Crowded Utah Prison Ponders Transfers |
| By Salt Lake Tribune |
| Published: 03/17/2003 |
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More than 200 Utah inmates who are in the United States illegally or facing prison time in other states could be considered for transfers to reduce the population of the Utah State Prison, Corrections officials said. The move would be an alternative to a much-discussed 'early release' like the one conducted in 2001, when more than 200 male inmates were freed up to nine months before their scheduled parole dates in a cost-cutting move, said Jack Ford, spokesman for the Department of Corrections. An initial list of about 300 inmates is being developed, Ford said. Half of those are undocumented immigrants, who would be released to U.S. immigration officials for deportation without finishing their prison terms. The other half are inmates awaiting trial or prison time in other states. The list will be given to the state Board of Pardons and Parole, which will decide whether to turn the inmates over to the various authorities. It is not the first time the department has submitted such a list. 'That's always been kind of an ongoing process,' said Mike Chabries, Corrections' executive director. Attempts to contact Mike Sibbett, chairman of the parole board, were unsuccessful March 8. But Ford said the board probably would insist on a guarantee that the undocumented immigrant inmates would be deported, rather than being released into the community. It is also likely the cases would be evaluated individually; a few months ago, the board declined to release about 40 inmates to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Ford said. It is unlikely, however, that many other states would welcome Utah's inmates, because an economic downturn has left other states struggling with their own budget crises and considering measures such as early releases and closing facilities. Despite efforts to keep parole violators from returning to prison for minor infractions and an increased reliance on alternative sanctions such those determined by community accountability boards, inmate counts at the Utah State Prison have continued to climb in recent months, mostly because of an influx of new criminals. The Legislature funds the prison at 5,500 beds; recently officials saw their tally run as high as 5,640, Ford said. Within the past month, about 100 offenders have been paroled slightly early -- a matter of weeks or even days before their scheduled parole dates, in an effort to bring those numbers down. Most state prison inmates with immigration detainers are Mexican citizens, Ford said. But countries such as Pakistan, Iran and Bulgaria are also represented. |
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