DOYLE TO SIGN PLANS TO OPEN 2 PRISONS

Gov. Jim Doyle said he will sign state budget plans to open two empty and
long-fought-over new prisons in April 2004, helping clear the way for
nearly half of the 2,290 prisoners held out of state to return to Wisconsin.

Doyle, a Democrat, had proposed leaving prisons in New Lisbon and Chippewa
Falls closed until at least mid-2005 to save money. But Doyle said over the
weekend that he would approve language added to the 2003-05 state budget by
Republicans that would bump up the opening dates. The news is likely to
surprise some Republicans, who had been told by administration officials
that opening the prisons would cost too much compared to leaving prisoners
out of state.

Doyle said he changed his mind, in part, because Highview Correctional
Institution in Chippewa Falls will become the state's first prison
dedicated to drug and alcohol treatment under the plan.

"It's a way to deal with some of the underlying problems, so that when
people come out of prison, we're going to reduce the likelihood they're
going to be coming back," Doyle said.

Revisions made during the budget process will increase in-state prison
capacity, make prisons cheaper to operate and better fit Doyle's desire to
emphasize rehabilitation, said Matthew Franks, secretary of the state
Department of Corrections.

Opening Highview and New Lisbon will create 510 Corrections jobs, 350 at
New Lisbon and 160 at Highview, Franks said.

Highview, which was built to hold 300 geriatric prisoners, will hold 450
prisoners - all but 50 enrolled in treatment programs, Franks said. The
four-month-long treatment program is intended for nonviolent inmates
selected by the department. The program won't result in early release
unless a participant is parole-eligible and resentenced by a judge, Franks
said.

Administration officials came up with the revised plan for Highview after
western Wisconsin Republicans asked for alternatives to keeping the prison
closed, Franks said. Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee put the
proposal in the budget.

The New Lisbon prison, which was planned to hold 750 inmates, will hold
950. Opening the prison didn't make sense until capacity there was
increased and other changes were made to help reduce the demand for prison
space, Doyle said.

Doyle said he will approve language added by Republicans aimed at keeping
270 jobs at Northern Wisconsin Center for the Developmentally Disabled,
which shares a campus with Highview. But most of those jobs will be phased
out by mid-2005 as the state shifts to placing developmentally disabled
people in community settings, Doyle said.

"That means we are authorized to have that number of people there. It isn't
that we must have that number of people there. They can't order you to hire
people to do things when there's no job to do," Doyle said.

Doyle's budget plan calls for leaving room for 20 full-time residents and
73 jobs at the center. In May, the center had about 170 residents and 575
employees. Some of those employees may be able to get jobs at Highview, and
some workers from the center have taken jobs at the nearby 1,500-bed
Stanley Prison. But not all employees will be accommodated because of the
number and types of jobs available, Franks said.

Some Republican legislators, including Rep. Sheryl Albers, R-Reedsburg, had
accused Doyle of inflating opening costs for the prisons and
underestimating the local economic impact. Doyle aides had said the cost of
opening Highview and New Lisbon could be as high as $29 million during the
two-year budget. The higher estimates were based on figures provided by
former Gov. Scott McCallum's administration, Franks said. As a result of
the changes and other adjustments, opening the two prisons will be $17
million cheaper than first estimated, Franks said.

Based on changes in the Corrections budget and prison population
projections, Franks said he anticipates 1,040 prisoners held out of state
will return to Wisconsin by September 2004.