HOOSIER INMATE POPULATION SOARING

Growth Rate Outstrips U.S.

Indiana's prison population is growing faster than the nation's at a time
when budget troubles have left state officials scrambling for money to deal
with the growth.

The number of inmates in Indiana prisons grew 4.2 percent last year,
compared with 1.3 percent growth nationwide - the smallest annual growth
rate for the nation since 1972.

Indiana's population of adult inmates in state and federal prisons at the
close of 2000 was 20,125, compared with 19,309 the previous year, according
to U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Indiana's growth rate last year was in line with levels throughout the
1990s, when the state's annual growth averaged 4.1 percent, compared with
6.5 percent nationwide, according to the state Department of Correction.

Stricter state sentencing guidelines and tougher standards for early
releases are probably the main factors behind Indiana's growth rate last
year, said Bob Bugher, a Department of Correction spokesman.

"We're seeing the impact of crimes that carry mandatory minimum sentences,"
he said.

The addition of more police officers on Indiana streets since 1997 also
could be driving the inmate population growth, said Bob Small, Gov. Frank
O'Bannon's aide on public safety issues.

Those officers are making more arrests, resulting in more convictions and
prisoners, he said.

The state's prisons also have become more crowded because recent growth in
crack cocaine and methamphetamine convictions and more stringent laws for
drug offenses, Small said.

State records show the proportion of adult inmates in Indiana's 24 prisons
whose most serious offenses were drug-related is rising, while the
proportion held on violent crimes is dropping.

Drug offenders accounted for 18.5 percent of the inmate population at the
end of 2000, compared with 14.2 in 1996.

(Sidebar)

Information on Indiana's inmate population in 24 state and federal prisons,
compiled from data collected by the Indiana Department of Correction:

Adult inmate population grew 4.2 percent during 2000, from 19,309 to 20,125.

Growth rates for previous three years: 0.6 percent in 1999, 7.1 percent
1998, 5.7 percent 1997.

Growth in proportion of inmates whose most serious offenses were drug-
related, 1996 to 2000: 14.2 percent to 18.5 percent. Prison Statistics

Decline in proportion of inmates whose most serious offenses were violent
crimes, 1996 to 2000: 47.1 percent to 40.1 percent.

Gender makeup of inmate population in 1996: 94 percent male, 6 percent
female. In 2000: 92.7 percent male, 7.3 percent female.