STATE, FEDERAL PRISON POPULATION PASSES 1.2 MILLION

The number of inmates in state and federal prisons hit an all-time
high this year, as the prosecution of drug crimes pushed the convict
population past the 1.2 million mark, according to a Department of
Justice study.

Federal crime initiatives along the Southwest border fueled the
increase after Attorney General Janet Reno assigned the highest
priority to the prosecution of drug crimes.

According to the department study, more than half of the 93,708 men
and women incarcerated in federal prisons are serving time for
drug-related crimes.

Texas has logged so many drug arrests this year that the district
attorneys along the border are, again, declining to prosecute federal
drug prisoners.

And the burgeoning federal case load has forced judges in Texas'
western districts to sentence some drug criminals via video
conference.

In California -- where one in three state prisoners is serving time
for a drug-related crime -- a new law will send first- and
second-time nonviolent, drug offenders to treatment facilities
instead of prison. That move will reduce the state's prison
population by as many as 36,000 inmates a year, according to a
legislative analyst.

But despite increases in state drug prosecutions, local district
attorneys still put a priority on punishing violent criminals, the
department study shows.

State prisons house more than 900,000 men and women for crimes
ranging from theft and robbery to drunken driving. But, by far, the
majority of men and women imprisoned by state authorities are serving
time for crimes of violence. The department study shows that 47
percent of men and 32 percent of women in state custody committed an
act of violence.

Twenty-one percent of men incarcerated in state prisons and 33
percent of women are serving time for drug-related crimes, according
to the study.

Figures from the study do not include detainees awaiting prosecution
or deportation, or juvenile offenders.

Texas houses 163,190 inmates, making Texas prisons the most populous
in the country.