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| Geriatric inmates' costly liability, officials say |
| By AP |
| Published: 08/27/2003 |
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The number of older inmates in Louisiana prisons is growing rapidly - and with it, the cost of keeping them. Prison officials expect the number of inmates to grow 15 percent by 2012. But even if it stayed the same, the number of inmates who are at least 50 years old could triple to more than 1,800, officials said. Ailments common to the middle-aged and seniors mean their care can cost up to $70,000 a year apiece, more than double the cost for younger inmates. Seventy-five-year-old Albert Wilson's left side has been paralyzed for nearly four decades, since a stroke in 1965. He'd been in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola for five years, and said he'd been behind bars for the previous 13. He has been in the Elayne Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel for about two years, sent in an exchange of older inmates for younger, more dangerous inmates. The Pardon Board recommended Wilson's release in 1966 and 1983, but the governors did not accept those recommendations. He's among more than 630 state inmates older than 50 who are serving life sentences in state facilities, prison officials say. Of the roughly 3,800 state inmates serving life sentences, 1,200 are between 40 and 49 years old. So in 10 years or less, they will be at least 50 years of age - classified by the state as geriatric inmates. The state Department of Corrections also expects the general prison population to grow 15 percent by 2012, from 36,523 inmates in 2002 to about 42,000. Those expectations are prompted in part by 1990s 'truth-in-sentencing' laws and a high crime rate. The growth can only increase the overall medical costs and the graying prison population, as well. The state pays about $30,000 a year to care for the average inmate. Some of those at Hunt are 'fast approaching' $70,000 annually, Lensing said. Statewide, the Department of Corrections budgeted about $34 million - roughly 11.6 percent - of its budget for inmate health services in fiscal year 2002-03. |
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